Everything I Need
by killmeorkissme
Summary: After a drunken night in Atlanta, Damon and Elena's relationship will never be the same as they deal with the battles of the supernatural and their newfound relationship. Can they finally admit their love for each other through all of it or will they end up doomed forever?
1. Atlanta

**New Story! Yay! I know it's going to be difficult with two stories going at the same time. But I wanted to do this one.**

**It will basically be each episode from my own point of view starting with Bloodlines. More commonly know as the BIG DELENA EPISODE. Some of the scenes will be somewhat the same. But I own none of it.**

**Hope you like it! However I can keep it as a one-shot but whatever you guys think. It will all depend on your feedback.  
**

* * *

"Ready? Go!" Bree said and she drank down her shot, while everybody else surrounding the bar did as well.

Elena was the first one to finish and clapped her hands before turning to Damon. "You need a bib?"

"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol," Damon said and then wiped his mouth with her hand.

"Whatever. Alright. Another round, Bree?" Elena said cocked her head to the side and raising her eyebrow.

"Honey, You should be on the floor!" The woman beside Elena said, clearly very drunk herself.

"I'm not even drunk! My tolerance is way up... here!" Elena slurred out, raising her hand and jumping up to illustrate her point. She had the biggest smile on her face and as she landed back on the ground she almost fell on top of Damon who was occupying the seat next to her.

"Whoa there drunky, are you okay?" Damon asked her a smirk planted firmly in place as she placed her hand on his leg to keep her balance.

"I'm fine, how are you, baby?" Elena said huskily.

"Baby?" Damon said raising his eyebrows at her.

"God, you're hot," she whispered low in his ear.

"So I've been told," he said an amused expression on his face.

Maybe it was the alcohol that was making her flirt with Damon or maybe deep down she really wanted this. Her hand was slowly creeping more up his leg and her lips were now on his ear, biting at his earlobe. Damon quickly grabbed her wrist as it started to move up his leg and stopped it in it's place.

"Think about what you're doing, Elena..." Damon warned her keeping the moan he wanted to let out from her sucking on his ear inside.

"I don't want to think..." she whined, "I want you."

"You're drunk," he stated and she rolled her eyes at his obvious statement.

"Don't you want me?" Elena whispered seductively in his ear.

"Not like this, you'll just go running back to your boyfriend at the end of the day, Elena," Damon said and she pulled back with a hurt look on her face.

"You don't want me?" She asked him and before he even had time to answer she stalked away from him and out of the club.

She desperately needed the fresh air to clear her mind. The alcohol was starting to fade quickly as the hurt from his rejection slowly sank in. She knew it was selfish but nobody had ever said no to her before especially when she was drunk. She commanded the attention of almost every guy she knew.

"Elena..." she heard from behind her and she spun around to face Damon.

"Seriously Damon, I don't want to talk about this," Elena said running her fingers through her hair.

"You think I don't want you?" Damon asked her and Elena gave him a duh expression on her face that should tell him everything he needs to know. "You are so wrong about that."

"Then take me Damon! Don't try to be the good guy now because we both know you're not!" Elena screamed at him.

"You want me Elena? For how long? Until you go make up with your boyfriend?" Damon retorted back to her. "Sorry but I'd rather you not use me for my body. No matter how great of a body it is."

Damon's cocky little smirk had her looking up and down his body. God, no matter how hard it was for her to admit she wouldn't be able to have him for just one night.

"What if I don't want it to be just for one night?" Elena whispered softly.

"Interesting," Damon said and he walked towards her, a cocky edge to his walk. "You want me?"

Elena said nothing as he was suddenly right in front of her. His close proximity made her take a necessary step back. His eyes were drinking in her body and he reached out to grab her waist pulling her flush against him.

"I can smell your arousal, Elena," he said smiling down at her and it was making her slightly uncomfortable. His hand made its way up her shirt, exploring the skin of her back.

Her breath got caught in her throat and she arched into him, her hands clasping onto his arms in order to provide some balance. She could feel the muscles in his upper arms and she slowly pushed herself closer against him. She wanted to feel all of him.

"Oh, baby, do you ever want me," Damon said chuckling before releasing her and walking away towards his car.

"Where are you going? Elena whispered as she watched him walk away from her.

"Renting a hotel room for the night, you coming?" he asked her turning back around to face her.

She nodded and walked up to him and they walked towards his car silently. She walked over to the passenger side and he followed her, opening her door for her. Before she had a chance to climb in he had her pinned against the car. His lips were on hers in an instant and she found herself responding back to him. Her hands finding his waist under his leather jacket as she grabbed his shirt pulling him closer to her body. His hands were far from idle as one hand fisted into her hair angling her head to dominate her mouth. The other hand was running down her body to her ass. She moaned into his mouth as he squeezed it.

His tongue traced her lips begging her to open her mouth to him, she granted him permission by opening her mouth to him. He wasted no time shoving his tongue into her mouth urgently, tangling it with hers. She surprised him by grinding her hips into his erection.

Elena seriously thought she was dreaming but his body was everywhere which confirmed that this was not in fact a dream and her hands found their way inside his shirt tracing over his abs with her fingertips. They were even more perfect than she had ever imagined them being.

She broke the kiss for much needed air, and his lips found their way to her neck and she titled her head back giving him better access.

"Please..." she whined grinding her hips against him more urgently.

Damon lips found her way to her ear, and he spoke low in her ear, "Now remember that when you decide to go back to your boyfriend."

He pulled away from her and she gave him an exasperated look as he walked back to his side of the car. He got into the car as she touched her fingers to her lips, she could still feel him all over her.

"I can't believe you just did that," she said to him once she got into the car.

"You think it's over? We're just getting started baby," he said giving her a wink as he started up the car.

"What makes you think I want to continue this?" she said and leaned over in the seat, running her hand up his leg.

"Hello, look at where your hand is," he said gesturing to his lap.

"God, I need more alcohol for this," Elena said and leaned back into her own seat.

He leaned over to the glove compartment and pulled out a huge bottle of vodka and handed it to her without a word.

"You keep this in your car?" Elena asked incredulously.

"You never know when you're going to go on an impromptu road trip, especially with a pretty girl," he said shrugging as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Right..." she said sarcastically taking a swig at the vodka bottle.

"Don't take a personally that all the ladies can't resist my dashing good looks and charm," he said giving her another noncommittal shrug.

"Yeah okay," Elena said rolling her eyes at him. She took a long drink from the bottle. God, she really needed to get drunk again in order to mentally get herself through this. Physically, she'd have no problem. Her body definitely wanted him. Very, very badly.

"Whoa slow down there slugger, I don't need you passing out on me," Damon said taking the bottle from her and taking a drink himself.

"I can handle my liquor," she reminded him and turned up the radio.

Damon just laughed as he watched her roll down the window and scream out into the night. He took a sudden right turn into a cheap motel and she collapsed back into her seat.

"Hey!" she yelled but it was followed by a giggle.

"Get out of the car, drunky."

"Yes, sir," she said giggling again and got out of the car, she stumbled a bit and almost fell flat onto the pavement if it weren't for a pair of strong hands that pulled her back up.

"Let's just get a room before you injure yourself or someone else," Damon said and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders guiding her into motel. She clung onto him shoving her head in the crook of his neck. It would have just looked like they were entangled in a romantic embrace but Elena was attacking his neck with her lips and teeth. This had Damon instantly hard in his jeans and he was starting to get slightly uncomfortable.

"Elena, behave," he said in a low voice as he approached the lady at the desk to check in. "Can I get a room please?"

"Hurry, I want you," she said her hand finding his back pocket and squeezing his ass.

She could tell Damon was surprised by her actions but she was even more surprised herself. She was oblivious to the conversation he was having with the receptionist but suddenly she was being dragged away by Damon.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked him frowning as he pulled her along faster.

"Hotel room, keep it together baby," he said and sighed when she stumbled a bit on her feet. He bent down and scooped her up as he carried her to their room.

"Thanks..." she mumbled wrapping her arms around his neck. She was very aware that his hand was right under her breast and in the back of her mind she wanted him to move it slightly, so he was brushing against her nipple. She stared up at his face as he carried her and felt herself getting lost in his facial features. Her hand seemed to have a mind of its own as she reached up and her hand brushed against his cheek. His face turned towards her but her hand remained on his cheek.

"What are you doing?" he asked her softly and her hand dropped from his cheek.

She just smiled at him as he set her down once they got to the room. He opened the door and she was hot on his heels to get in the hotel. She spotted the big bed as soon as she entered the room and went to go lay down on it. When she noticed that he didn't sit beside her she leaned up on her elbows and saw him with his back to the door leaning against it and staring at her.

"Come here," she whispered and was surprised that she was the one to initiate the first move. I guess he always made her do things she'd never thought of ever doing before.

Damon stood there for another minute before walking towards her taking his shirt off in the process and throwing it on the floor.

"Aw boo, I wanted to do that," Elena whined as he suddenly stood right in front of her situating himself to stand between her legs.

"Good thing there's still one more article of clothing you can take off," Damon said smirking at her as he motioned to his pants.

Elena sat up slowly grabbing onto the belt of his jeans. Her face was close to his stomach and she found herself leaned over to place kisses on his abs as she took his belt off throwing it away. His hands fisted into her hair pulling her closer to his body. She nipped at his skin, leaving red marks where her teeth used to be. She frowned when they faded away quickly. Stupid vampire. Frustrated she unbuttoned his pants fast pulling them down his legs roughly. She was still faced with his boxers but didn't bother to take them off yet.

"Someone's in a hurry," Damon pointed out and she looked up and glared at him.

"You want this or not?" Elena asked him and when he didn't answer she stood up and pushed him roughly on the bed.

He stared up in surprise at her. "Never knew you were a wildcat in bed, Elena. Certainly your nights with Stefan didn't seem that enjoyable for you as I recall."

"Think you can top it?" Elena challenged and crawled on top of him.

"Oh, baby, I know I can, I'm going to rock your world," Damon said smirking up at her but the smirk slipped when she grinded her hips against his erection.

"Or I'm going to rock your world."

"I dare you to try."

"Challenged accepted," Her hands grabbed his shoving them up above his head. She intertwined their fingers together and squeezed tightly as she started to grind harder. She felt herself getting wet and she was suddenly very resentful of her jeans.

She leaned down so that their lips were inches apart, her breasts were up against his chest and her core was pressed against his erection. This would have never happened with Stefan, he never liked to do anything fun and would rarely let her have control in bed. But with Damon, she knew her control wouldn't last for long but at least she knew when she handed it over to him he wouldn't treat her gently.

Damon seemed to get impatient that she wouldn't kiss him and he flipped them over. His lips pressed hard against hers and she let out a low moan against his mouth. His hands removed themselves from hers to travel the length of her body. He paid special attention to her still clothed breasts, flicking over the nipples with his thumbs. His tongue snuck its way into her mouth and she accepted it, tangling her tongue with his.

His hands moved from her breasts to the bottom of her shirt, and found a way under her shirt and explored her flat stomach. He was playing her body expertly like a fine instrument and she wasn't even undressed yet. Her hands tangled themselves in his dark raven hair as a way of pulling him closer to her.

She could barely concentrate on anything else as his tongue fought against hers and she tried to get some control by biting gently on his lower lip, drawing blood slightly. She felt his stare on her as she licked it up, her eyes flicked up to his and she saw his eyes darken with lust as he drunk her in. He suddenly pulled his lips away from hers and grabbed the end of her shirt pulling it over her head swiftly. He threw it on the floor behind them and he stared at her.

Her chest was breathing heavily and she blushed underneath his gaze feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"You're beautiful," Damon whispered and she gave him a small smile before grabbing him by the waistband of his boxers so that he could fall back on top of her.

Their lips met again in fiery passion and she rolled them back over so she was back on top of him again. His hands explored her back to find her bra clasp and with a fastness that could only be accomplished by years of practice her bra was off and on the floor beside her. She giggled and he sat up underneath her to and his lips attached to her neck, nibbling and sucking at her pulse point.

"Damon..." she breathed out letting her head fall back as she slowly began grinding herself down on him. His hands were stroking the sides of her body as his lips were making their way further down her body. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and up through his hair, running her fingers through it.

Damon's mouth finally landed on her breasts and she arched into him letting out a gasp as he circled her nipple with his tongue. God, this felt way too good. She tried to remember the fact that she was still technically with Stefan. But after this she knew there was no way she could go back to Stefan without being completely miserable and so unsatisfied.

Even if Damon couldn't give her his heart, she would take everything that he gave her. She just hoped his body was included in that, because god he was so good.

Elena was brought back to the present situation as his attention left her breasts and went back to her mouth.

The next words out of his mouth surprised her. "I need you."

It came out in a breathy whisper and at first she thought she imagined it but before she could think about it she was being flipped back over on her back and he was on top of her. He was making his way down her body leaving kisses as he passed over her naked skin. His tongue dipped into her belly button and she let out a squeal; he chuckled at her before continuing down until he came to her jeans. He was using a slowness with her that she was almost positive that he didn't do with all the girls that had found their way into his bed at night.

She took pleasure in the thought he was taking his time with her but was still making her weak and still aroused by the end of it. He was slowly unbuttoning her jeans and she lifted her hips so that he could bring them down her legs. She kicked them off and he threw them away to join the rest of their clothes on the floor. His lips were on her legs, kissing his way up to her thighs. He gently spread her legs with his hands and her breathing deepened and became uneven as he made his way to her heated core.

"Damon... you don't have to..." she mumbled out, her hand fisting in the sheets of the bed as his breath landed over her underwear clad core.

"Funny, I never would have suspected you for a thong girl," Damon commented softly. Elena blushed and he moved her thong out of the way and gave a long lick to her clit that had her arching her back off the bed. He chuckled and that sent vibrations through her body. "Calm down, Elena, I promise you'll like this."

She tried to relax and stared up at the ceiling as he pulling her thong down her legs. He grabbed her legs throwing them over his shoulders as he brought her closer to his mouth. She looked down at him and watched as a smile formed on his face and he took another lick at her clit.

She tried to stop herself from arching off the bed too far but she didn't succeed and he used his hand to bring her back down and keep her there.

"Shhh, baby," he said and sucked on her clit hard. Her hands fisted in his hair as she threw her head back letting out a loud moan. He had an expert tongue, even though she didn't have anything to compare this to she just knew it. She was feeling things that she'd never felt before. The pleasure was becoming too much and her legs trembled.

Damon placed a finger inside her and that seemed to be what made her come undone.

"Damon... I'm gonna..." Elena said thrashing her head side to side as she felt her orgasm fast approaching.

"Let it go," Damon said and she did exactly that. Her orgasm ripped through her hard and she bucked against his face.

"Damon!" she all but screamed out.

Once she had settled down he crawled back up her body with a cocky smile on his face.

"Don't look so smug," she said as she recovered her breath.

"Best orgasm of your life wasn't it?" Damon asked her and she blushed; he knew that it was by the way she reacted.

Elena reached up and rolled them over quickly. Her hands grabbed at his boxers pulling them down his legs and off onto the floor. She licked her lips at the sight of his erection.

"You like?" Damon asked her putting his hands behind his head as he stared up at her.

"You're big," Elena stated obviously and he rolled his eyes at how naive she was. What he didn't expect was for her to grasp him and position herself over the tip. He was surprised further when she ran it along her opening; teasing herself. His eyes opened wide when she suddenly thrust herself down on it.

They both let out a loud moan together and she kept still letting herself adjust to his size. He felt amazing inside of her, she wanted this to last as long as possible. She closed her eyes and rested her hands on his chest.

Damon was growing more and more impatient with her not moving and thrust his hips up into her; this coaxed a low moan out of her mouth. She opened her eyes and he sees the lust in her eyes and knows he's in for one hell of a ride with her.

She slowly started to bounce up and down on top of him, finding her own rhythm. It didn't take her long as he held onto her hips in order to help her control her movements. She looked like a goddess on top of him. Her hands were in her long brown locks as they fanned out over her shoulders. Her mouth was slightly open and little moans were coming out of it every time she thrusted down. Her eyes were closed but he wished that she'd open them.

Elena swivelled her hips in a circle and she was surprised at the loud moan this caused to come out of him. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. He sat up and when his lips were just inches from hers, he said, "do it again."

She did as he said and circled her hips again and this time the moan hit her lips. She loved the reaction she was getting out of him and she closed the distance between their lips, kissing him as she circled her hips again.

"Elena..." he mumbled against her lips and she kissed him harder. In order to take some of the control back, Damon's hands found their way to her breasts and he massaged them in his hands; he felt the low moan coming from Elena against his lips.

Elena didn't know how long she wanted this slow pace to last but she was still loving every single minute of this. "Damon... I need you... harder."

He didn't need to be told twice and he flipped them over and braced himself over her, he was still buried deep inside her. He wasted no time and started to thrust faster inside of her. She was putty in his heads as she thrashed her head side to side as he thrusted harder and harder.

"This what you want?" Damon said a little unevenly but still with his usual cockiness.

"Yes! Keep going!" Elena screamed out as her orgasm was right around the corner. Her nails dug themselves into his back and scraped down his back.

He leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips wasting no time in shoving his tongue in her mouth at the same pace as his thrusts. It was getting overwhelming and she screamed out into his mouth as she came all over him.

He followed soon after her removing his mouth from hers and burying it in her neck.

He let out a few uneven breaths before rolling off of her onto the other side of the bed.

"Wow..." Elena whispered staring up at the ceiling and stupid smile plastered on her face.

"I never would have taken you for a vixen in bed Elena," Damon said as he turned to face her.

"Surprised by that?" she countered back turning her head to face him.

"Yes, you're not such a good girl after all," Damon said giving her a wink that had butterflies forming in her stomach.

"I can be a very bad girl if I want," Elena said rolling over to get closer to him. "Do I have to prove it to you again?"

"Yes, Miss Gilbert, I believe you do."

Elena rolled on top of him and this time it was her turn to explore this body. He watched her slither down his body, nipping and licking at his skin as she went.

They spent the rest of the night getting lost in each other. They were trying to satisfy their need for each other. But in the end it would never be enough for them and they would get lost in each other again.

* * *

Elena woke up the next morning and found herself curled up on Damon. She was surprised he'd allowed her to do this while they were sleeping. When they went to bed they were on opposite sides of the bed. But now her head was on his chest, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders; her arm was thrown around his waist and their legs were tangled together in the sheets.

Elena lifted her head up to look at Damon and saw that his eyes were still closed and he was breathing evenly in and out. She took the time to study his face. She appreciated the way he looked like a child when he was sleeping and not the cocky, sarcastic vampire that she was constantly faced with. He looked almost human, she realized. She couldn't help herself and pressed a kiss to his chest before resting her head back on his chest. Her hand was slowly tracing shapes into his stomach.

Her thoughts drifted back to last night and she couldn't believe that it actually happened. Yeah, she could use the excuse that she was drunk but she didn't think it would suffice considering the amount of times that they actually did have sex last night. She didn't even want to move for fear that she would be incredibly sore if she did. She knew that it was wrong to do what she did because of Stefan. But her thoughts reminded her that he had lied to her, and that was something that Damon had never done. She had always appreciated his honesty it was one of the things that made her grow to care about him as a friend. And now more, she added in the back of her mind.

But could she love him? That was the big question. She didn't know the answer to that one or if she ever would. But she didn't think she could go back to being just friends with him. She knew before she allowed this to happen again that she would have to end things with Stefan once and for all.

One thing still entered the back of her mind. What if Damon was using her because she looked like Katherine too? She didn't think she could take it if he thought the same thing. It was hard enough being Stefan's replacement for Katherine but she couldn't handle Damon thinking the same thing too. She didn't need her heart broken twice in the same week. That would be too much for her.

"I can hear you thinking from here."

Elena looked up and Damon's eyes were still closed but a smile was on his face. She didn't say anything and placed her head back on his chest, her fingers still tracing the lines in his abs.

"Talk to me," he whispered and she sighed closing her eyes.

"Did you only sleep with me because I look like Katherine?" Elena asked him in a small voice.

"No, the differences between you and Katherine are very apparent," he said softly, his hand rubbing up and down her arm. "You're sweet, kind and loving where she was manipulative, and demanding. I've never thought of you and her at that same time."

Elena nodded against his chest but stayed silent at his words. The silence only lasted for a few minutes before she broke it.

"What happens now?" she asked him lifting her head up to look at his face.

"We could do it again?" Damon asked her with an innocent look on his face.

"Seriously? I don't even think I can move from last night!" Elena said incredulously.

"There's only one way to find out."

Damon rolled her over sliding inside of her in one quick thrust. She gasped at the intrusion.

"You're insatiable," Elena gasped out as he started thrusting inside of her at a faster pace.

"Baby, you know it."

"I'll give you a quickie, that's it," Elena said giggling when he gave her a cheeky smile before leaning down to kiss her. And before she knew it they got lost in each other again.

* * *

It had not just been a quickie. It took them five hours to get back on the road. They had sex twice. In the bed. Then once in the shower. Then again on the bathroom counter. She had been surprised she was actually able to stand after all this to be honest. But they had finally made their way to his car and were finally heading back to Mystic Falls.

They hadn't talked about what this meant at all yet but she knew she needed to talk to Stefan. Things were different with Damon. She could be herself and play with him in a way that she could never be with Stefan.

She wanted more with Damon, but she wasn't sure that was what he wanted so she kept her mouth shut. He looked over at her every once and awhile and she would give him a smile. But what surprised her the most was when he reached over and took her hand. She gave him a confused look but he did nothing but look back at the road. So, she squeezed his hand gently as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

They made it back to Mystic Falls in perfect time. She was unbelievably tired and even though she tried to sleep in the car because she didn't get much sleep the night before. Curse Damon and his sinfully evil ways of keeping her occupied. She wanted to get things over with Stefan though so she asked Damon to take her to the boarding house instead of her house. She'd have to deal with Jenna and her wrath later. It was going to be a very long day and she just wanted to get it over with now.

She walked through the house, Damon decided to give her privacy and only dropped her off to go to the grill. She found her way to Stefan's room and she saw him lying down on the bed.

He sat up as she entered the room and she gave him a small smile. But it changed quickly when she realized why she was here.

"Why didn't you tell me I looked like Katherine?" Elena started bluntly.

"I don't think of you as her," Stefan gave a weak reply.

"You could have told me!"

"I wanted to," Stefan said looking down.

"You said no more lies! Believe it or not Stefan I can handle the truth. All the things you've told me, that you're a vampire who has a vampire brother and that I have a witch for a best friend. Those things I've handled. But this lie. I cannot take. What am I to you? Am I just a replacement for her?" Elena yelled at him.

"You're not Katherine. You are the opposite of everything that she was."

"So I've been told. But Stefan when did you figure that out? Before you kissed me? Before you slept with me?"

"Before I met you."

"What are you talking about?" Elena said her voice suddenly low.

"The first day at school wasn't the first time we'd met. We met the day your parents car drove over Wickery Bridge, and I was nearby and I heard the accident. I got there fast but you had already been in the water for awhile. I tried to get your father out but he wouldn't let me help him until I helped you," Stefan explained and he stepped closer to her moving to take her hands but she backed away.

"Nobody could figure out... how I... how I got out of the car," Elena said and the tears were flowing freely down her face. "They said it was a miracle."

"When I saved you I was shocked by the resemblance. I watched you for months making sure you weren't her. You are nothing like Katherine. I wanted to tell you but I just couldn't."

"That's not your call! You should have told me I had a right to know why my parents are dead!" Elena screamed at him.

"I know I should have told you, Elena, I'm sorry," Stefan said and his face broke as the tears kept streaming down her face.

"Why do I look like her, Stefan?"

"It didn't make any sense. You were a Gilbert. She was a Pierce. But then I learned the truth, Elena. You were adopted."

Elena couldn't deal with this anymore. She was not expecting this. She's adopted.

"Stefan, this is all too much. I can't do this anymore," she said backing out the door.

"Elena! What does this mean for us?" Stefan yelled and he caught up to her as she was exiting the front door.

"As far as I'm concerned we were over from the minute I saw that picture that you kept of her," she yelled at him and made her way through the front door and realizing she didn't have a car she had to walk all the way home.

It gave her some time to think. Jenna tried calling her a million times but she ignored them all. She was now mad at Jenna for not telling her she was adopted. Her parents weren't her real parents. Could the stress level get any worse for her? She just kept walking and burst through the door of her house and ran up the stairs, she heard Jenna follow up the stairs after her.

"Where were you? I trust you to tell me the truth, Elena. How could you lie to me?" Jenna yelled at her.

"Now is not the time to talk to me about lies, Jenna."

"Don't turn this back on me," Jenna warned her.

"Okay, why didn't you tell me I was adopted?" Elena fired at her and she saw Jenna visibly flinch at the force of her words.

"Elena, they asked me not to tell you..."

"I don't care! You lied to me!" Elena said and slammed her bedroom door in Jenna's face.

She already had tears down her face and she fell down against her bedroom door burying his face in her hands. She didn't even notice that someone else was in the room with her staring at her in shock.

* * *

**I can keep this as a one-shot or continue on with the story? But I kind of like where it's going. There's a second part to this chapter anyways. So I'll at least write that one ;)  
**

**Read and Review? :)**


	2. Comfort

**Part 2 is here! I had meant to get it out the day after I wrote the first part but it slipped my mind and I've been pretty busy.**

**I'm working on chapter 6 for my other story and it's still not working out the way I want it but I'll finished it soon I promise!**

**Thanks for giving me reviews so that I actually wanted to post this chapter!**

**I hope you all like it!**

**Anyways, enough of me yapping. Read :)**

* * *

Elena could not believe this was happening. Her entire family had been lying to her this whole time. She wasn't a Gilbert. Her parents weren't her parents, her brother wasn't her brother. She suddenly felt like she didn't feel like she belonged in this house. She didn't feel like part of the family anymore and it broke her heart. She was now fully sobbing, her body shaking with the force of it.

She gasped as she felt somebody kneel down in front of her placing their hands on legs, rubbing up and down softly. She half expected it to Stefan but when she looked up she was shockingly met with Damon's sympathetic face. This was a surprise all in its self. Damon didn't do sympathetic towards anyone.

"I'm really not in the mood, Damon," she whispered burying her head back in her hands.

"I heard," Damon said simply. "You're adopted?"

Elena nodded and Damon's hands went to her face making her look up at him. He simply wiped the tears away from her face; he pushed her hair back from her face and didn't say a word. She stared up into his eyes, waiting for him to get scared and run away from her emotions but was surprised when he stayed put on the floor with her.

Damon Salvatore, you are just full of surprises aren't you?

"You don't have to stay with me," Elena whispered.

"What if I want to?"

The waterworks started again as she reached out and wrapped her arms around him burying her face in his neck. Damon was more than a little shocked. He didn't do this. Not the hugging thing. But he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead anyways. This was so uncharacteristic of him. But he learned a long time ago that he'd do anything for the girl in his arms. Even if he didn't want her to know it yet.

He gently picked her up off the floor and brought her over to her bed. He tucked her into the comforter and kneeled down on the floor so that their faces were at the same level. He brushed a stray piece of hair off her face before letting his finger linger on her cheek.

"You need me to do anything?" Damon asked her softly. More uncharacteristic behavior on his part. Wow, he must be evolving.

"Can you stay with me?" Elena asked him, closing her eyes out of exhaustion.

Damon stood up and for a second Elena thought he was going to leave. Instead he took of his leather jacket and tossed it on the seat by the window. His shirt was soon followed by his leather jacket when he tossed it at the window as well. He climbed into the bed beside her wrapping her up in his arms. It didn't take her long to fall asleep, her head on his chest with an arm wrapped tightly around his stomach. She seeked comfort in his embrace and she found it. She found it easy to fall asleep in his arms.

She finally saw Damon Salvatore's sweet side and she very much liked it.

* * *

Elena woke up later that evening and rolled over to look at the clock. It was only 9:00pm. She had completely slept through dinner but didn't feel the slightest bit hungry. She closed her eyes while rolling back over and was expecting to feel Damon's warm body beside her. She reached her hand out but quickly realized he wasn't beside her. Her eyes opened wide and found where he was sleeping to be cold. God, what an ass. She couldn't believe that he'd actually left her.

Damon went from sweet and adorable to the biggest ass on the planet. She had fully intended on telling him that when her bathroom door opened and there he was. A towel was wrapped around his waist and he was running a hair through his wet hair.

He looked way too good and she found herself mentally taking the towel off his body so that she could get a full view.

"Oh, you're up."

Damon's voice brought her back to the present and her eyes returned to his face and found him staring intently at her.

"Yeah, I woke up and you were gone..." Elena whispered. "I thought you left."

She sounded so needy and clingy. Ugh, that was the last thing she wanted to be in Damon's eyes.

"You wanted me to be there?" Damon asked her, genuinely shocked that she'd want him to still be there.

"I don't know," she said shrugging and looked down at her hands. "I just like it better when you're next me."

"Oh. I didn't know," he said in a small voice that surprised her.

She looked up and saw the intense vulnerability on his face. He looked extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

"You seem surprised by that? Why?" Elena asked him curiously.

"I guess nobody's ever needed me like that before..." Damon started and walked towards the bed taking a seat beside her. "I guess it's just unfamiliar and it's a little uncomfortable."

An honest to god truth about his emotions from Damon? Was she dreaming? She must be dreaming. She wanted to subtly pinch herself without him noticing but figured that he would so she decided against it.

"Is it a good unfamiliar?" she asked him and slowly sat up in the bed so that they were closer together.

"It's nice to be needed," Damon stated but he was now looking away from her. He shrugged as if it didn't bother him but she knew better. He was hiding his emotions away from her as always. She really wasn't surprised to be honest.

"Don't do that, Damon, don't hide things from me," Elena pleaded with him grabbing one of his hands in both of hers and squeezing it gently.

"I can't open up to people, it's not something I've ever done before," Damon said looking down at their joined hands.

"Just talk to me, about anything you want, I'll listen to you."

"I don't think I can, Elena, you have to give me some time," he said turning to face her.

The look in his eyes told her to not push it. She got the feeling he'd tell her when he was ready and for once her stubborn side didn't kick in. She decided to leave it alone. For now. She wasn't totally evolved.

"Okay."

Damon raised his eyebrows at her, totally disbelieving that she would just let it go. "You're just gonna let this go?"

"Yep."

"Elena... come on, you're not gonna use your doe eyes on me until I finally crack?" Damon asked her sarcastically.

"You don't get off that easy, Damon Salvatore. I will hound you about it some day soon," Elena said pulling one of her hands out of his and punching him lightly in the arm. "Beware."

"Oh, I'd like to see you try. You can't hurt me princess, all vampire remember?"

"Princess? Is that a new nickname?" Elena asked him incredulously.

"Maybe it is, I could give you another one if you prefer? We could try out baby?"

"That's so cliche. But you can call me whatever you want."

"Maybe you'd be better off if I called you something like tiger, or kitten, or you could be my naughty little vixen?" Damon suggested giving her a wink.

"A naughty little vixen? Is that what you call all your girlfriends?" Elena asked a playful glint in her eyes.

"You're not just another number to me, Elena," Damon said simply and she decided to put the issue to rest.

She huffed and laid back down in bed. She wanted to lay in here forever and never come out. She decided to address her own issues, she needed to tell someone and at the moment Damon was the only one she felt she could rely on.

"I broke up with Stefan," Elena blurted out. She took a look at his face and found it unreadable.

"Really? Sleeping with me was really that good?" Damon said smiling at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Can't say I blame you, I'm awesome in bed."

Was he actually bothered by the news of her and Stefan breaking up? Maybe that made things more real for him? She just hoped that he wouldn't suddenly jump ship. She was in no way looking to just jump into another relationship but she at least wanted Damon to be here and know that she was thinking about being with him.

"Oh shut up, you're not the only reason I broke up with Stefan." She didn't realize what she'd said before they were rushing out of her mouth.

"I'm a reason?" he asked her and this was the question she was praying that he wouldn't ask.

She wisely kept her mouth shut and threw her arm over her face. "Yes, I guess I just... I have... I think I'm starting to develop feelings for you."

Elena did not want to see the reaction on his face when she said those words. She felt the bed shift and thought that those would be the words that would scare him away from her. But she felt him getting under the covers with her, he pulled her arm off her face and she snapped her eyes closed.

"Look at me, Elena," he whispered.

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"That you don't feel the same way," Elena whispered.

This shocked him and he kept his mouth shut. She assumed he was going through his own feelings, trying to figure out the best way to respond to what she had just told him. She was so scared that he would just leave her alone. She really didn't need that today, she desperately wanted to him just to speak.

She peaked one of her eyes open and found him staring up at the ceiling. She rolled onto her side staring down at him. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm just surprised you'd be able to find any feelings for me, after all the stuff I've done to you since I got into town. I've basically made your life a living hell. I just don't understand it."

"I don't really understand it either, I'm not saying I want a relationship or anything, I just wanted you to know," Elena explained. "I've always had a boyfriend and I've never really been by myself, you know? I've been thinking I want to try it out."

"You want to find yourself?" Damon asked her finally turning to look at her.

"Yeah I guess, but I want you to be here when I do, that's what makes it all so messed up. I want to be by myself but I want to be with you," Elena said, it came out all messed up and not at all the way she wanted to say it.

"I understand."

She nodded and boldly leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. She pulled back shortly after initiating the kiss and looked down at him with a smile on her face. "But I was just thinking maybe we could still explore our physical relationship?"

Elena ran her finger down his chest and watched his face turn from serious to playful. "Oh, really?"

"Uh huh, what do you think about that?" Elena asked him, she crawled slowly on top of him.

"I think I'm about to make you forget your own name, baby," he said and rolled them over so he was situated on top of her.

Elena giggled and he bent down to kiss her. She smiled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck to run her fingers through his hair lightly. His hair was still slightly damp from his shower, his hair was incredibly silky and soft. She moaned into his mouth as he ran one his hands down the side of her body, his thumb brushing over her exposed hip where her tank top had ridden up. He moved his lips away from hers to travel down the side of her face to her neck where he nipped and licked at her pulse point.

"What if Jenna comes in?" Elena whispered as she titled her head to the side to give him better access to her neck.

Damon pulled away from her neck to her ear and whispered, "then I guess the cat's out of the bag."

"Damon..." she warned and she squeaked when he bit on her ear lightly.

"Oh unclench, I'll know if she's coming," he said laughing in her ear. She shivered and decided that there was nothing sexier than his laugh. "Come on baby, live a little."

Elena sighed and yanked his head back to hers. "You are the biggest ass in the world."

"The ass that you admitted you were starting to get feelings for," Damon pointed out nipping at her bottom lip.

She pouted at him, "you're gonna hold that over me, aren't you?"

"You know it baby," he said giving her a cheeky smile. "Ready for me to rock your world... take two?"

"Take two? I'm pretty sure we're on like 8 now?"

"You've been counting?" Damon asked her raising his eyebrows.

Elena blushed, very embarrassed that she'd actually been counting how many times they've had sex. That sounds extremely pathetic.

"You are so cute."

She was lulled out her thoughts by his voice and saw him smiling down at her. She leaned up and kissed him. He seemed taken aback by her actions and so was she, she just took the chance. He immediately opened his mouth to her and their tongues tangled together. His hands were far from idle on her body as he pulled her tank top down to expose her bra-clad breasts. He quickly got her breasts out of her bra, his hands playing with her nipples.

She moaned into his mouth and pushed up into his eager hands. Elena moved her hands from his hair and down his back, digging her nails into his bare back. She scraped them down his back which elicited a groan out of Damon. She felt self-satisfied at his reaction from her touch and brought her hands to his front. Her hands finding his towel ripping it off of him.

Damon pressed closer to her moving from her mouth, down the front of her body to her breasts. He flicked his tongue over her erect nipple causing a low moan to escape from Elena. Her hands finding their way back to his hair, forcefully pulling him closer. He bit lightly on her nipple as he moved his other hand to her other breast, massaging it in his hand. After a few minutes, he moved his delicious attention to her other breast, applying the same technique which had her squirming on the bed.

"Damon..." she whimpered closing her eyes as her back arched up from the bed.

His lips moved back up to her mouth, taking quick control of her mouth. So intoxicated by his mouth she barely registered it when his hand snuck down her shorts and flicked her clit lightly.

"God..." she moaned into his mouth.

He suddenly sank two fingers inside of her causing her to yelp and cling to his body.

"You're so wet for me," he murmured against her lips and slowly began to push his fingers in and out of her.

"Always for you," she moaned.

"Nobody else gets you, you're mine," he whispered and pushed another finger inside of her. "This is mine."

"Only yours," she nodded and slowly rolled him over with his fingers still inside of her. "Let me."

She slowly began to move herself up and down on his fingers. Damon thought that he'd died and gone to heaven. Who would have thought? Elena was so dirty. He loved it. He kept his fingers still as she moved herself up and down on top of him. He was becoming rock hard at the sight of it and let out a deep breath as he watched her body move up and down. He breathy little moans were almost becoming too much for him that he wanted to just shove himself in her already. He had to refrain mostly because she looked like she was in so much pleasure on top of him that he didn't want to ruin it.

The next sight shocked him immensely as see brought one of her fingers down and pushed it inside herself along with his.

"You're so beautiful," he said and she looked down at him and gave him a smile.

She slowly pulled her own finger out of her and brought it to his lips, running it over his lips. She had a seductive glint in her eye as he tried to catch her finger in his mouth but she would pull it away before so could.

"Minx," he murmured and he finally caught her finger in his mouth and he licked off her juices, swirling his tongue around.

She almost got off just by watching him suck on her finger, imagining in her mind all of the things that that tongue had done to her. She started to move herself faster and pulled her finger out of his mouth and brought it to her clit. Rubbing it just the right way to get herself off. She was withering on top of him and there was nothing more erotic than that.

Damon couldn't resist and had to sit up, kissing her neck. He smacked her hand out of the way and used his own thumb to rub her clit.

"I'm so close," she whimpered on top of him and buried her face in his neck. She halted her body on top of his, letting him take over. She was more than thrilled when he did, he moved his fingers in and out of her faster and harder than she could.

She lifted her head up and pulled his from her neck. Their lips were inches away, foreheads pressed together as she found herself hurtling over the edge of pleasure.

She let out a loud moan as her walls clamped around his fingers. She closed her eyes as she rode out her orgasm. Damon watched her face mesmerized and soothed her gently as she came down for her high. He pulled his fingers out of her and brought them up to her face. She wrapped her mouth around his fingers, sucking on it gently. She used an up and down motion and all Damon could picture was her doing that on a very different place.

He pulled his finger out of her mouth and brought his lips to hers but she backed away. He had a confused look on his face as she rejected him. But his lips turned into a smirk as she pushed him roughly down on the bed.

She gave him an evil little smile leaned down to his chest, kissing down his body. She reached his happy trail and smiled as she finally reached his erection. She wrapped her small hand around his shaft and he let out a deep breath.

She licked tentatively around the head. She seemed a little unsure of herself and it dawned on him that she'd never even done this before.

"Elena?" he questioned and she lifted her head up. "You've never done this before have you?"

She shook her head and he let out a laugh. "Don't laugh at me!"

She smacked his stomach, "Don't worry baby, just do what feels right."

Elena took a deep breath and wrapped her lips around him again while moving her hand up and down his shaft. She gained a little more confidence at the little moan that escaped his lips. She started to lick around the head and his hands reached up to move her hair out of her face and so that he'd have something to hold on to.

"Suck a little harder," he said and groaned when she did what he asked.

She removed her hand and took more of him in her mouth. She swirled her tongue around his shaft and he bucked his hips into her mouth. He so desperately wanted to just thrust into her mouth, but with it being her first time he refrained trying to remain as still as possible. He gave her the control and she took it in stride. Her mouth began to move faster as she took him further and further in her mouth.

"Just like that, you're doing perfect," he said letting out another breath. Her hands reached out to fondle his balls and he almost came right there. "Oh fuck, that's a good girl."

She was encouraged by his words and relaxed her throat muscles, swiftly deep throating him.

"Oh shit, where'd you learn that?" he asked her, his fingers tightening on her hair.

She hummed as she moved up and down and that seemed to set him off. He came inside her mouth, letting out a low moan. She drunk it down happily. When he was finished she removed her head off of him, giving him a smile as she crawled back up his body. Her lips landed at his ear and she whispered,

"How'd I do?"

"Amazing, especially for your first time," he said slowly wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Glad I could please you," she whispered and lifted her head up to place a brief, soft kiss on his lips.

"You always please me," he said against her lips.

"And I didn't even have to get naked," she said giving him a smile.

"Oh well in round two you will definitely be wearing less clothes," he whispered flipping her over again.

"I like that plan," she said and giggled as he lifted her tank top up and placed kisses on her stomach.

He blew hard on her stomach making a loud noise that had her squealing. He smiled against her stomach at her squeal before continuing to place kisses on her stomach.

"Don't do that," she said laughing as he swirled his tongue around her belly button. "Damon! Stop! That tickles!"

He continued his playful assault on her stomach fueled by her laughs and squeals. She put her fingers in his hair gently massaging his scalp as he tickled her stomach with his mouth and tongue.

His head suddenly snapped up and her laughing stopped immediately. A slow smile appeared on his face as he heard Jenna's footsteps heading towards Elena's room.

"Hate to be a wam-bam-thank-you-mam kinda guy but your aunt's heading for your room," Damon said getting up from the bed and before she realized it he was standing before her dressed. "I'll see you later baby."

And then he was gone and Jenna was knocking at her door.

"Elena? Can we talk?" Jenna said through her door before opening it slowly.

"I'm really can't talk to you right now," Elena said crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know you don't want to talk, but when you're ready, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"Okay, I'll let you get some sleep," Jenna said and closed the door softly.

Elena sighed as Jenna closed the door, resting her head down on the pillows. She'd deal with the impending doom of her life tomorrow. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and sent a quick text to Damon.

_Come back over. I want to finish what we started ;)_, she texted.

She laid her head back down on the pillow and just as she closed her eyes, her phone beeped with a new text message.

She opened it up and rolled her eyes at his words,

_I know ;) We'll finish what we started soon. Goodnight Elena._

She didn't reply, setting her phone back on the nightstand she rolled over and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

**There it is! The next chapter will be based off the next episode Unpleasantville :)**

**Read and Review! It makes me want to write more!**


	3. Hide Out

**Got this chapter out sooner than expected but the words just started flowing!**

**I hope it lives up to expectations! :)**

* * *

Elena heard the doorbell ring and searched around for her wallet. Where was her money?

"Elena! Pizza's here! I need the money!" Jeremy yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

She found her wallet pulling out her cash hurriedly while running down the stairs quickly. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she was slightly out of breath.

"Hi. Thanks. You can keep the change."

Elena handed him the money with a smile and took the pizza box out of his hands.

"Thanks, you have yourself a good night," the man said with a swift smile as he turned to go out the door.

Elena frowned at the man's behavior, she had a weird feeling about him but shrugged it off and closed the door.

She made her way into the kitchen and found Jenna and Jeremy already setting up the table. Pizza seemed to be as fancy as it ever got for their little messed up family.

"Food's here," she announced as she set it in the middle of the table.

Even though her and Jenna were still on the outs, they'd made living under the same roof bearable even with the elephant in the room. She still wasn't ready to give Jenna a chance to explain or to learn about her birth parents but she would eventually. It had been a week since their falling out but they were making it work more or less.

She took a seat at the table, grabbing a slice of pizza.

"So Elena, how's Stefan?" Jeremy asked her as a way to create some kind of conversation.

"We broke up actually," Elena said and was faced with the shocked looks of her family. She decided to offer more of an explanation. "He was lying to me."

"Oh, so that's why Damon's been hanging around a lot lately."

It was true. Damon had been hanging around a lot more than usual. For the past week she'd woken up to find him curled around her body, even though he wasn't there when she went to sleep. However, her family didn't know that. But Damon had been trying to get her mind off of things by taking her out places. Mostly, the Grill. She appreciated the fact that he didn't just let her sulk all day over her broken heart.

"Yeah... he's been a good friend," she stated simply, shrugging. Even though she knew that her and Damon were the farthest from being friends. They weren't in a relationship, neither would admit that that's what they actually wanted. So they went on with their flirty little comments towards each other while also having very casual sex whenever either was in the mood.

Nobody knew about this happening though, everyone just thought that they were getting along and becoming friends ever since the trip to Atlanta. Her friends and family still hated Damon. She didn't even want to know what Stefan would think. With that conclusion they had decided not to tell anybody about their arrangement.

Elena had a small secret smile on her face when she thought of how cute Damon had been lately. Of course he was still driving her out of her mind. She had no problem telling him when he was being a complete ass, even though she meant it in the most playful terms. Especially when he was being cocky about his performance in bed. Of course she never disagreed with him, he was completely right, he knew what drove her wild while she was just getting started to learn what made him tick.

For example, when she bit on his ear lightly, that set him off like nothing else. She would be pinned against a wall or her bed in a matter of seconds. Just thinking about it made her miss him all over again.

Jenna's voice brought her back to reality, "I know that look... you're thinking about someone aren't you?"

"Maybe," she said guiltily looking down at her plate.

"It's Damon, isn't it?"

Elena said nothing and that seemed to be all the proof that her aunt needed that it was in fact Damon that was on a constant loop in her mind. She'd never admit that out loud to him, his ego was already big enough without her adding to the mix.

"And what about you and Alaric?" Elena asked to get the topic off of her.

"He's taking me to the dance tomorrow night," Jenna said as a smile lit up her face. "We're chaperoning together."

"Dance?" Elena asked a confused look on her face.

"The decade dance. You forgot?"

"I've had a lot on my mind lately," Elena shot Jenna a pointed look and that was where the conversation ended.

Shortly after, Elena excused herself from the table and went up to her bedroom to find Damon sitting at the end of her bed. When she entered the room he looked up with a smile on his face. He looked incredible in his black leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. He had on dark wash jeans that hugged his body just right. He looked very yummy and she had the urge to just throw herself at him.

She stopped in her tracks and shut her bedroom door quietly behind her. "Hi," Elena breathed out.

"That's the only hello I get?" Damon said a smirk on his lips.

Elena rolled her eyes but made her way over to where he sat and took her place straddling his lap with her legs. "How's this?"

"You're getting better, we just need one thing to make it better," he said wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her closer to his body.

"What's that?" she asked him, moving her face so that their lips were just inches away from each other. Another breath and they would be touching. She resisted his sweet delicious lips, waiting for him to ask for it. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

"A hello kiss," he mumbled and that was all the encouragement Elena needed and she pushed her lips against his, her fingers twisting in his hair to pull him closer to her lips.

If she could just attach herself to his lips, she would. He tasted like a mix of Damon and bourbon, she guessed that he'd been drinking before he came over tonight.

Her tongue traced his bottom lip, begging for entrance to his mouth. He allowed her in, twirling her tongue around his as she tried to press herself even closer to him. What a hell of a hello this was. She wasn't complaining at all, she was enjoying it immensely.

The kiss was over way too soon, as she pulled back from his lips. Her lips made their way slowly to his ear as she drawled, "how about that for a hello?"

"Best hello I've ever gotten," he said running his hands over her back.

She placed a kiss on his jaw and she felt him shiver beneath her. "I have a question for you."

"Do you?"

She lifted her head up to look him in the eyes, "so there's this decade dance tomorrow, and you know I was just wondering..."

"Are you asking me to take you to the dance, Miss Gilbert?" Damon asked her incredulously as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Are you saying yes, Mr. Salvatore?" Elena asked him, coyly running a finger down his chest to his belt. She fingered it playfully letting her intentions very well known.

"Will I get rewarded if I say yes?" He watched her carefully, eying her hand.

"You'll get rewarded, in a way I know you'll like," she whispered moving her lips to his ear. "Especially after the dance."

She bit his ear and he knew he was a goner. "I'll go."

"I knew you'd see things my way," she giggled.

"You played very dirty, baby," he whispered, his pride at this new Elena that acted on her sexuality was a very big turn on. Usually he was the one seducing her. This change of pace excited him and he was very turned on by her new attitude.

"It was the only way to get you to do it," Elena said and evil little smile playing on her lips.

"You're so unbelievably sexy right now," Damon said placing his face in the crook of her neck, to place kisses there. He heard her quick intake of breath and smirked against her skin. Her arousal spiked and she could feel the wetness between her legs at his words and his actions combined.

"You're the sexy one," she countered back resting her head against the side of his. She breathed in the scent of his hair, smiling at the fact that it smelt like strawberries. Her shampoo. She'd forgotten that they'd showered together this morning. She smiled at the memory of Damon washing her hair for her. She'd been late for school but it had totally been worth it.

"You smell good," she breathed into his hair as his kisses finally made their way back up to her face.

"You know what I can smell?" He gave her a lazy smirk. He brought his hand down to cup her sex. "Right here. You're extremely turned on, aren't you?"

She gasped as he ran his fingers over her core through her jeans. "Yes..." she whispered.

Damon groaned as her phone's ringtone sounded through the air. She felt the same hate towards her phone but he reluctantly let her go so she could answer it.

"It's Bonnie."

"Cockblocker," he muttered out as she placed the phone to her ear.

Elena gave him a smack as she talked to Bonnie. Damon wasn't listening to their conversation but she stood over him as she talked to Bonnie. His face was eye level with her breasts and he eyed them appreciatively. He acted on impulse and buried his face into her breasts while wrapping his arms around her pulling her closer to his face.

He placed barely there kisses in between her breasts, just enough to make her unfocused on her phone call and more focused on his mouth and the things he was doing to her. She threaded her fingers through his hair, massaging his head with her gentle fingers.

He let out a low moan at her ministrations, he'd always loved it when people played with his hair. Elena seemed to like to do it a lot which pleased him immensely.

He caught the tail end of Elena's conversation as she said,

"Yeah, I'll meet you there in 10 minutes, I have so much to tell you!" Elena said before hanging up her phone.

"Um, what about the sex you promised me if I took you to the stupid dance?" he asked her pulling his head out of her breasts.

"Come over later tonight," she said and placed a kiss on his lips. "I'll make it up to you then."

"But I'm hard now," he pouted, motioning to his erection. "Stay."

"I promise, I'll make it up to you."

"You'll be the death of me, Elena Gilbert," Damon sighed and she responded by giving him a powerful kiss on the lips.

She pulled away before the kiss got too heated and backed away from him. "Bye, Damon."

"Later... kitten," Damon said making his way over to her window.

"You're still trying to get that to catch on?" Elena said rolling her eyes as she grabbed her jacket, slipping into it.

He shrugged and gave her a wink before heading out her window and disappearing into the night.

* * *

"You're really adopted?" Bonnie questioned her, her and Caroline wearing the same shocked expression on their faces.

Elena nodded, "Yeah it's really weird, I mean I looked at my birth certificate and it says that Miranda and Grayson Gilbert were my birth parents. It all seems a little weird."

"You really should ask Jenna. I know you guys are on the outs right now because she lied to you and everything but she could really shed some light on the whole adoption thing," Bonnie told her.

"You deserve to know the truth, whether or not it's good or bad, Elena," Caroline chimed in.

"I know, it's just hard to get over the fact that she wasn't telling me the truth," Elena said, "you know?"

"I get it, Elena," Bonnie said reaching over and patting her hand.

Elena gave her a smile, before continuing on. "I have something else to tell you guys too."

"I figured, you still have that "I-want-to-spill-my-guts" look on your face," Caroline said rolling her eyes at Elena.

"This might be hard for you guys to understand, but," Elena started looking down at her hands on the table. "I've been hanging out with Damon a lot lately."

"We know that," Caroline said, "you guys have been attached at the hip."

"I have feelings for him guys, he's been really sweet to me lately."

"What? Don't you remember what he did to me?" Bonnie fired at her, she knew Bonnie was talking about the fact that Damon had almost killed her. "How could you?"

"You don't really get a say in my feelings, okay?" Elena countered.

"Don't you remember how he used me? What if he does the same to you?" Caroline asked her softly.

"I know what he did to you both was horrible, but it's just what I feel but you guys will eventually have to get used to it," Elena explained and got up from the table walking away from them.

She really didn't want to see the expressions on their faces as she walked away. She made her way out to the car she had to borrow from Jenna because her car was now wrecked. She fumbled around in her purse for her car keys as she walked towards the car.

She recognized her phone's ringtone and she saw Unknown Number flashing across the screen. She frowned as she placed the phone to her ear,

"Hello?"

"Hello, Elena," a man's voice came over the line.

"Hey, who's this?"

"You hit me with your car. I see you got a new one? Damon Salvatore saved you last time. Next time you won't be so lucky."

Elena swirled around and saw a man lurking in the shadows and quickly searched her purse finding her keys. She hurriedly unlocked the car. She started it and high tailed it out of the parking lot. She headed for the first place she could think of. The boarding house. At least if he followed her she'd have two vampires there to protect her.

She pulled into the long driveway at the boarding house and rushed out of her car to the front door. She was thanking god that it was unlocked and burst through the house yelling, "Stefan! Damon!"

Damon suddenly appeared before her and she launched herself into his arms.

"Elena? What's wrong?" Damon asked her as he wrapped his arms around her and ran a hand threw her hair to comfort her.

"The man I hit my car with, he called me. He was right there, Damon," Elena sobbed into his chest, soaking his shirt.

"What did he say?" Damon asked her, his expression was one of defense as his ears and eyes searched for any immediate threats.

"He said that I wouldn't get away next time and that you wouldn't be able to save me."

"Shh, I'm here," he whispered soothingly into her hair, kissing it.

"Why did he go after me? And why call me first? Why not just kill me there?" she asked him pulling her face from his chest.

"I don't know, baby," he said wiping the tears from her face. "Sometimes for vampires, stalking is almost as exciting as the kill."

"That's really messed up," Elena said and he laughed at her words.

"Come on, I need to show give you something," Damon said taking her hand and leading her to the library. He searched the desk for a few minutes and pulled out her father's pocket watch.

"That's my families, how did you get it?" Elena asked as she took the pocket watch in her hands.

"I stole it from Logan, who I am guessing stole it from Jeremy," Damon explained.

"What happened to it?" she asked him running her thumb along the pocket watch.

"It's not just a pocket watch, the council made it into a compass," he explained as the compass spun around to point towards him. "It points towards vampires."

"Why did my father have it?" she questioned and looked up at him.

"The Gilbert's were one of the founding families. Which means they were part of the council that was responsible for getting rid of vampires in 1864. They used that," he pointed to the compass. "to track us and kill us."

"Oh," Elena whispered softly.

"You can use it and it will let you know if you're in danger," Damon said and then a smiled formed on his lips. "We both know how prone you seem to be to disaster."

"Shut up," she said punching him half-heartedly.

"You want to stay here tonight?" Damon asked her tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I can protect you from all the things that go bump in the night."

"Just to sleep?" Elena asked him curiously.

"I'll keep my hands off you for tonight, but tomorrow everything goes back to normal."

"Deal," she said grabbing his hand in hers and squeezing it gently.

He lead her out to the living room and collapsed onto the couch, pulling her down with him. They sat in complete silence as she gripped his hand tightly in his, her legs placed into his lap. She slowly laid down on the couch, putting a pillow beneath her head.

He placed his hands on her legs, massaging them gently as he stared into the roaring fire. He could feel her staring at him but decided against looking at her.

Her eyes slowly closed as she fell asleep, lulled by his gentle massaging. He smiled at her sleeping form before draping a blanket over her body. He watched as she curled up into it, smiling softly in her sleep.

He looked up as Stefan walked through the front door. He caught sight of Elena's sleeping form and shot Damon a confused look.

"The man that she hit called her tonight, he was so close to being able to kill her," Damon said in a voice low enough to not wake Elena but loud enough for Stefan to hear. "I told her it would be best if she stayed here, so we could keep an eye on her."

Stefan nodded in understanding and continued upstairs to his room. That went better than expected, he was half expecting Stefan to flip out and kill him right there. Damon heard the door shut upstairs just as Elena's leg brushed against his crotch.

He let out a low moan. God damn it, she wasn't even conscious and she gave him an erection. He removed her legs from on top of his and stood up. He lifted her up into his arms bringing her up the stairs to his room. He placed her gently on the bed and watched her snuggle into the pillow. He quickly divested himself of his clothes and climbed into the bed beside her. He removed her jeans from her body, knowing she'd be uncomfortable when she woke up in the morning.

He wrapped his arms around her bringing her back against his chest. He snuggled his face into her hair, breathing in the sweet scent of her strawberry shampoo. He pulled the covers up over top of them before falling asleep, his face buried into the crook of her neck.

* * *

Elena woke up the next morning faced with an unfamiliar room, she then felt arms around her holding her tightly. She turned her head slightly and saw Damon's dark hair as he had his face nuzzled in her neck. She smiled before looking around Damon's room. It was very him. Silk sheets, a huge king size bed, the walls were painted black but you could see the sunlight coming in room from the window.

It slowly creeped up on her and framed her face with its warmth. She wanted to get up and explore his room but didn't want to risk waking him up in the process. She got her chance though when he rolled over and snuggled into the pillow on the other side of the bed.

She smiled before crawling out of his bed, looking down and saw that she wasn't wearing any pants and frowned. Of course, Damon just had to undress her in the middle of the night. Since her own shirt didn't cover her body enough she searched through his drawers finding one of his shirts. She took her own shirt off her body throwing it on the floor before pulling his over her head. It fell down to just above her knees and she lifted the shirt up to her nose, inhaling his scent. It smelled exactly like him and she smiled despite herself.

She found herself walking around his room, trailing a finger over his furniture as she explored. She picked up a book, _Gone With the Wind_, who would have known? She fingered the spine, finding it worn out. She placed it carefully back to its home before walking into his bathroom. Her mouth dropped open at the site of it. He had a huge bath tub right in the middle. Figures. She had a lovely image of Damon in covered in bubbles in this bath tub.

She looked in the mirror and found herself glowing. Despite everything that had happened there was something so magical about finally being in Damon's room. She was pretty sure it was the only part of the boarding house that she hadn't seen.

She slowly made her way back to the bedroom and found Damon's still sleeping form on the bed. She climbed stealthily onto the bed and hovered over his body as she watched his chest rise and fall with his breathing. She leaned down so that she was now fully laying down on his chest.

Damon slowly opened his eyes only to be met with Elena's face staring back at him. "Hey."

"Hi," Elena whispered giving him a sweet smile.

He gave a once over of her appearance before a slow smirk appeared on his face. "You're wearing my shirt."

She nodded, "hope you don't mind."

"You look way better in it than I ever did," Damon said running his hands up her sides under the shirt. "Plus its easy access for me."

"Oh is it? I never realized," she said coyly, giving him a smirk of her own.

"I'm sure you didn't," Damon said giving her a look that said he clearly did.

"I'm sorry but I have to go home," she said with a pout on her face.

"Elena, you're killing me here," he said exasperated.

"I know, baby, I'm sorry," Elena said placing a kiss on chest. "I just... I need to talk to Jenna. But then I'm all yours at the dance tonight okay?"

"And after the dance?" he suggested a smirk on his face.

"Sleepover?"

"You'll be up for most of the night anyway, while I appreciate your fine body," he said his fingers tracing over the skin on her hips.

"I'll be looking forward to it," She pulled away from him but he pulled her back, bringing her up his body.

"You can't go without a goodbye kiss," Damon said pouting at her.

"Aw my poor baby," she whispered leaning down and placing a kiss on his lips. He kissed her back deeply, his hands traveling the length of her back.

She ended the kiss by biting softly on his lower lip, pulling on it before pulling away.

"That was such a teaser kiss, not a real kiss," Damon pouted again and she mimicked his pout.

"I'll see you later, pick me up at 8," she said climbing off of him and slipped back into her jeans. "Oh by the way, I'm keeping this shirt."

"By all means," he said staring at her as she raced around his room for all her belongings.

Elena gave him a smile over her shoulder as she left the room. She successfully avoiding running into Stefan on her way down the stairs and made it safely into her car.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me Jenna?"

Elena had cornered Jenna in the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon and was starting to grill her on her adoption. She tried to keep her emotions at bay but it seemed this topic would be a sensitive one.

"Your mom was going to tell you. I never imagined that I'd ever have to do it," Jenna replied looking slightly uncomfortable with the situation at hand.

"My mom would tell me the truth if I asked, so spill," Elena countered.

Jenna took a breath before answering. "Your dad was leaving the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16 and pregnant. Grayson delivered the baby and he gave her a place to stay but then a few days later she disappeared. And she left you here. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby, but it just wasn't happening. All your mom wanted was to become a mom. You were her chance and she took it. She never looked back, she loved you, Elena."

"But why were my parents' names on the birth certificate?" Elena asked.

"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of the paperwork. They didn't want to risk losing you, so they only told the need to knows. But if anybody ever needed proof they had the documentation ready for anyone who questioned it."

"What else do you know about her? My birth mother?"

"I only know her name," Jenna started, "Isobel."

"Can you see if there's anything else you can find out about her?" Elena asked and Jenna nodded. "Thanks, I have to go get ready for this dance. You still chaperoning?"

"Yep, it's technically like my first date with Alaric," Elena could hear the excitement in her aunt's voice and smiled.

"Well good luck," Elena said before heading up the stairs to get ready.

* * *

Damon looked up from the bookshelf he was currently searching through, as Stefan entered the room.

"I figured you wouldn't be going to the dance with the whole breakup thing," Damon said taking in Stefan's appearance. "You got the hair right."

"Yes, I'm going."

"Well, see you there brother," Damon said taking in the shocked look on Stefan's face.

"Why would you be going?" Stefan asked.

"Elena asked me to be her date," Damon said giving Stefan a smirk. "Now what do you have behind your back, oh dear brother of mine?"

"Dad's journal. You're looking for it," Stefan stated, "Go ahead, read it. Nowhere in there does it say anything about Katherine or the tomb or how to open it."

"I'm not surprised. The man could barely spell his own name," Damon said returning his attention to the bookshelf.

"I'm really sorry that it won't help with your diabolical plan, the sequel," Stefan said, "you know I could help you."

"And why would you want to do that?" Damon questioned smirking.

"I'll do anything to get you out of this town. Especially with what you've got going on with Elena. So I'll release Katherine," Stefan offered.

"Elena and I are _friends_," Damon put emphasis on the word friends. "But what about the other 26 vampires?"

"No, they aren't allowed to come," Stefan deadpanned, "But Katherine. I'll consider her."

"Why should I trust you?" Damon asked raising his eyebrow.

"Because I'm your brother, and because I want you away from Elena."

"Sorry, but I don't plan on staying away from Elena anytime soon," Damon said and walked past Stefan. "Oh that reminds me, I have to go pick her up for the dance that you're attending alone. What a shame."

* * *

It had taken Elena a solid three hours to get ready for the dance. She had the hardest time trying to decide on what outfit she wanted to wear. She had just finished straightening her hair when she heard something in the house. She walked out to the doorway looking around the hallway.

"Jenna? Jeremy?"

She got no reply so she shrugged and walked back into her room. She heard the sound again and looked to her bed and saw that the compass was spinning. The first thought that ran through her mind was that it was Damon. But he usually showed up at her window or appeared in her bed. She had the sickening feeling that this was not Damon at all. She rushed for her phone and speed dialed Damon. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello, Miss Elena," he drawled out through the phone.

"Are you here?" Elena questioned hurriedly running through the house.

"I'll be there in a couple minutes, why?" Damon asked her his concern was evident through the phone.

"The compass is spinning. It must know that you're nearby," Elena said with relief.

He was silent on the line for a couple seconds before responding, "Elena, you need to get out of that house right now."

"It's him isn't it?" Elena asked him in a small voice and rushed for the door before a figure landed on her going for her throat.

The expected bite never came as the man was ripped off of her and throw across the room. She looked around and saw Damon standing there in a protective stance in front of her.

The man that had been stalking her blurred in front of her and was out her front door in a haste. She barely had time to catch her breath as she was swept into Damon's arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as he examined her body for any bite marks.

"I'm fine, a little shaken up, but fine," Elena said softly.

"I'm starting to get really used to saving you," Damon said crossing his arms over his chest.

Elena smiled at him before reaching out and grabbing the collar of his leather jacket and pulling him close to her body. "You look very handsome tonight, Mr. Salvatore."

"Why thank you, Miss Gilbert," Damon said a self-satisfied look on his face. "You look beautiful as always."

"Thank you very much," she said leaning up to give him a brief kiss on the mouth.

"Shall we get this over with?" Damon asked her holding out his arm for her to take.

She slid her arm through his, happily letting him pull her along to his car.

"You know he's probably going to be there tonight?" Damon asked her once they were situated in the car and were driving towards the school.

"Who?" Elena asked him.

"The guy that attacked you," Damon answered smirking at her.

"Oh yeah, I kind of figured. I recognized him you know," Elena informed him.

"You know how he got into your house?"

"He delivered pizza a couple nights ago and Jeremy invited him in because I couldn't find any money," Elena explained. "It's all my fault that he was able to get to me."

"Elena, none of this is your fault," Damon said softly grabbing her hand across the center console.

Elena nodded but she didn't believe him. They were silent the rest of the car ride to the dance. When they arrived she went to open her car door but found that Damon was already opening it for her.

"Such a gentleman," Elena remarked and slipped her hand in his.

"I better get the good loving tonight after this," Damon said as he dragged her along.

"Oh baby, you definitely will."

Their fingers intertwined as they walked through the doors. Okay, she would just have to be prepared for the rumors that were bound to be started about her the next day. She'd just have to either deal with it or forget it. She took a deep breath and looked up at Damon, finding him looking at her. He nodded and she gave him a reassuring smile.

* * *

**The dance will be the next chapter! Sorry to leave you hanging! I hope you liked it! :)**

**I love your guys reviews! Especially that a lot of you are happy that I'm starting in season 1 instead of doing season 3 like everybody else seems to be doing.**

**I'll try and get the next chapter up soon!**

**Review please! It fuels my creativeness.  
**

**You can follow on tumblr: ianslooch  
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	4. Real or not Real

**The long awaited dance chapter.**

**A lot of people commented in the last chapter that Damon wasn't acting like her would in season 1 but I was taking a different approaching and considered that Elena really needed Damon to be there for her I thought that I would make him a little kinder.**

**He has some snarky comments in this chapter though that I hope will fulfill your need!  
**

**Enjoy the chapter!  
**

* * *

People were staring. It wasn't subtle staring. They were practically gawking at her and Damon. Elena tried not to let it affect her but she was completely bitter over it. Damon was currently slow dancing with her, swaying slowly back and forth. He didn't seem to be bothered by it though but clearly knew she was. They had barely spoken a word to each other since they arrived to the dance but had simply rushed her out onto the dance floor as soon as they walked through the door.

Her eyes fell on Caroline and Bonnie who were currently giving her each their own version of a death stare. She rolled her eyes in her head. She felt Damon pull her a bit closer to him and she closed her eyes, putting her head in the crook of his neck. Her lips were pressed against his neck.

Elena felt Damon's lips move to her ear as he whispered, "you okay?"

She nodded against his neck, "I just wish people would stop staring."

"They're not staring at you. They're staring at me and my outrageously hot body," Damon said, hoping it would get her mind off of it. He succeed and it earned him a laugh from Elena.

"I don't think that's what they're thinking," she retorted back.

"Oh baby they are, they're practically eye fucking me," Damon remarked smartly. "I can see the panties dropping."

"Pig."

"You're just lucky I'm going home with you."

Elena removed her head from his neck staring up at him, raising her eyebrows at him questionably. "How would I ever survive?"

"You would have the worst sex life in world if I left," Damon said giving her a winning smile. "I'm the only one that brings out your naughty side."

"Is that right?" Elena asked him giving him a dazzling smile of her own.

"Soon you'll be begging me to tie you up."

Elena's arousal spiked at his words. That was definitely an intriguing idea. She found herself picturing it in her head, and was very pleased with the image of her hands tied to his bed with him pleasuring her all over her body as she screamed his name.

"Thinking about it aren't you?" Damon's voice brought her back to the present, he had a cocky smirk on his face.

She broke herself out of her daze to fire back, "I was actually thinking about tying you up."

"No you weren't, but intriguing idea." Damon pointed out. It was intriguing for sure. Giving her the reins for a night, he'd love to see her dominant side, it was probably very hot. She was still very nervous in bed. Maybe that would loosen her up a bit. His lips found her ear again, "maybe I'll let you try it out tonight."

"You'd let me tie you up?" Elena asked him bewildered. She was surprised that he'd actually give the controls over to her when she could tell that he enjoyed being the one in control.

He just nodded and she figured that she'd let the idea be put to rest for now and she'd question it later. A smile spread across her face as a faster song came on and saw the same smile mirrored on Damon's face.

"Come on, show me your dance moves," she said grabbing both his hand in hers and shaking her hips to the beat.

"You're in for a treat," Damon promised her and took her hands spinning her around before pulling her back into him.

Elena giggled and a smile lit up her face as he dipped her. He quickly brought her back up and placed a big kiss on her lips. She melted against him, her hands fisting in the collar of his leather jacket. For once, she didn't care about all the people that were probably staring at her behavior right now, all she cared about was Damon's lips pressing against hers. She felt the eyes boring into the back of her head. No doubt Caroline and Bonnie were part of that group.

She honestly didn't care as Damon pulled her body closer to his as he rocked his hips against hers. She pulled her lips away from his wrapping her arms lazily around his neck. She gave him a smile and leaned her forehead against his as he rocked them back and forth.

"You're quite the dancer," Elena said appreciatively.

"Seems like I can rock your world in other areas besides the bedroom," Damon smirked down at her, doing that thing she had come to love with this eyebrows.

"I don't believe I ever said you rocked my world," Elena protested, hitting him in the arm.

"No but those sexy little moans you make when I touch you prove my point," Elena blushed under his gaze and looked down. "Or how about when you beg me to go faster and harder."

"Stop it," Elena said embarrassed, blushing more deeply, smacking him lightly with her hand.

She looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear their conversation. She was extremely uncomfortable talking about this in a public place. After confirming no one had heard their conversation she took another quick survey of the room and found that everybody had moved on from her and Damon. She was incredibly thankful she really didn't want to have to deal with their judgmental stares.

"Are you always this abusive?" he prodded her out of her thoughts as he put a hand to his chest feigning that he was actually hurt by her actions.

"Nobody's ever been as much of an ass as you," she huffed out.

"Thank you for that lovely compliment, Miss Elena," Damon beamed at her and a smile reluctantly spread across her face.

"Anything for you," she drawled out giving him her best seductive look as she ran a finger down his chest. It had the desired effect as he took in a sharp intake of breath, following her finger as it traveled the length of his chest.

"You better stop that before we leave right now and I show you just why you shouldn't do that," Damon warned her, grabbing her hand before it made its way into his pants.

"I wouldn't think you'd be opposed to public groping," Elena commented raising her eyebrows at him, pulling her hand out of his gently running it up his chest to tangle with his hair.

Damon pondered her statement before a slow smile appeared on his face, which had Elena's confident facade slipping quickly. She felt hot under his intense gaze and he grabbed one of her hands and took her out into the hall. She followed him excitedly as he lead her into an empty classroom.

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess as he closed the door and pushed her against it. The excitement at doing this here in a public place was killing her with anticipation. His hands were on either side of her head keeping her trapped as his lower body was pressed against hers. She reached out to touch him but with his vampire speed he grabbed it before she could touch him.

He grabbed her other hand putting them both above her head and holding them there with one hand. His other hand went exploring on her body. She was practically putty in his hands as she let out shattered breaths in order to get some kind of control over herself.

"I told you I would show you why you shouldn't do that," he whispered as he continued the slow torture on her body.

"Please Damon," she whined out, moaning out low as he snuck his hand into her pants.

"Don't worry, I'll make you feel good," he promised as his finger found her clit. He flicked it very fast and she moaned out loud in pleasure. He clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and she bit in his hand. "Ouch, kitten, put away the claws."

He worked her up to the edge and just as she was about to topple over it he pulled away. She groaned, frustrated, "why'd you stop?"

"Because you messed with me, I mess with you," he explained shrugging as he removed his fingers from her pants and brought them to his lips licking them.

"You're mean," Elena pouted at him crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'll make it up to you later tonight," he promised placing his hands on her cheeks and giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

"You better," she mumbled against his lips wrapping her arms around his waist as she kissed him again.

He pulled away gently placing a kiss on her forehead, "I have to go fill Stefan in on what's going on, but you can go make peace with Caroline and Bonnie."

"I don't want to, they're being all judgy," Elena muttered bitterly.

"I know, but you'll miss them if you don't," Damon reasoned with her. "Go play nice with them and I'll play nice with my brother."

Elena nodded and pulled away from him exiting the classroom as she wandered back into the gym and onto the dance floor. Her eyes scanned for Caroline and Bonnie, she picked them out on the outskirts of the dancers. She made her way over to them and was mentally preparing herself for this conversation.

"Hey guys," she said timidly.

They just looked at her, giving her their infamous death stares. This was going to go bad and she hated that she had to do this here but she couldn't not be friends with them anymore. So she finally sucked up the courage and began her speech.

"Look guys, I'm sorry about what I said and what I'm doing with Damon. I really like him and I see more in him than just the vampire that everyone knows. I really hope we can get past this and that you guys will still be my friends through all this," Elena pleaded with them. "You will always be my best friends and I hope that never changes."

"We're still your friends, Elena," Bonnie started, her icy stare defrosting. "We just need some time to deal with you and Damon."

"Yeah, Elena, we're still here for you," Caroline said giving her a small smile.

Elena smiled and held out her arms grabbing them in a hug. They reciprocated her hug squeezing her tightly. "I miss you guys."

"We miss you too," Caroline said and they pulled away gently, smiling brightly at each other.

Elena's phone started to ring in her pocket and she gave them an apologetic look before making her way out into the hallway. She placed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Go to the cafeteria or your brother dies," the voice on the line ordered. "Do it now."

The phone went dead on the line and she started to walk towards the cafeteria in a rush. She panicked and fumbled for her phone texting Damon hurriedly to where she was going. Her adrenaline hit as she flung open the door of the cafeteria, her eyes scanning quickly for any sign of her "stalker". She spotted him at the other end of the cafeteria and in a flash he was standing in front of her.

She did the only thing she could think of. She ran. He gave her a head start before latching onto her hair pulling her back and then tossing her on the floor across the room.

Elena scrambled up off the floor and grabbed pencils of the table that was closest to her and the next time he came at her she shoved one in his stomach. She heard the groan of pain coming from the vampire in front of her and kept stabbing him with the pencils.

"You're going to need a lot more wood than that," he chided and he stood up slowly.

She slowly backed up from him and hit a mop and a bucket. She grabbed the mop out putting it over her knee and snapping it in two making her own makeshift stake. She reached out to stab him in the stomach with it but he caught her arm, twisting it painfully. She screamed in agony as he dropped her arm before making another lunge for her throat. She had enough control over her pain and successfully stabbed him in the stomach which caused the bite she was anticipating to never come.

The vampire was kneelled on the floor in front of her and she felt a gust of wind behind her and suddenly Damon and Stefan were beside her.

"You took him down yourself?" Stefan's surprised voice came from behind her.

Elena just nodded as her response, the tears were falling silently down her cheeks.

Damon didn't want to get distracted with her emotions so he focused on the curled up vampire below him. He pulled him upright forcing the vampire to look at him.

"What do you want with Elena?" Damon questioned him angrily.

"She looks like Katherine," the man answered which got a startled gasp from Elena.

"Where's the journal?" Damon asked him and Elena looked at him quizzically but decided to save that topic away for later and focused on the situation at hand.

"Jonathan Gilbert's journal? I was hoping you had it," the man said, he was now wheezing and his skin was starting to pale.

"Who are you working with?" Damon asked next, hoping the partner would be able to give him some clue on how to unseal the tomb.

"Nobody. I work alone," the man sneered at Damon.

"Well then, I guess you're not useful to me anymore," Damon concluded and grabbed the stake out of the man's stomach before shoving it back inside him, this time aiming at his heart.

Before Elena could register it the vampire was dead on the ground in front of her. "Get her out of here," Damon said over his shoulder to Stefan.

Elena felt her arm being pulled on by Stefan and she followed him willingly. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he guided her out of the school.

* * *

The car ride back to her house was tense and she stared out the window at the passing streets. Before she knew it they were parked outside of her house. Their uneasy silence continued as they sat in the car. She didn't say a word to Stefan until they were standing on her front porch. As he was turning to walk away she stopped him, she had something that she needed to get off her chest.

"Stefan?"

He turned around slowly, "Yes, Elena?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for about how I acted when we broke up, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, it was wrong of me to do," Elena apologized giving him a small smile. "But I just wish you would have been honest with me about how I looked like Katherine."

"I should have told you, it would save me a lot of the heartache I'm going through," Stefan said shrugging. "I just hope you don't hate me."

"Of course I don't hate you Stefan, I don't know maybe someday we can be friends," Elena offered him and Stefan nodded.

"Maybe someday we will, I do have forever," Stefan joked giving her a smile in return. "Goodnight, Elena."

"Goodnight, Stefan," Elena murmured quietly as she opened her front door. She looked back at Stefan a little sadly as she made her way into her house. The house was completely silent and she figured that everyone must still be at the dance considering she had to leave early. She grudgingly made her way upstairs to her bedroom, she half expected Damon to be waiting there for her but sadly he wasn't.

She felt incredibly sore and tired after all that happened tonight and decided that it would be in her best interest to take a bath. She walked into her the bathroom that her and Jeremy shared, peeling her shirt over her head as she did. She locked Jeremy's side before running the water in the bathtub to a nice hot temperature. She looked around under the sink for the bubble bath she knew had to be hidden around here somewhere.

Her face lit up as she finally found it, she dumped a lot of it in the water as it filled up quickly around her. She stripped off the rest of her clothes, throwing them every which way on the floor around the bathroom. She slowly put her leg in the bath water, squealing when it was a little too hot but she sucked it up and finally made it into the water.

The water relaxed her muscles and she felt the tension slowly leave her body the longer she stayed in the tub. She mewled over the night's events. Tonight she had actually fought back and it had felt good. She felt a pride in herself that she had never known was there before and she was smiling to herself. She didn't always need to be rescued, she could handle herself. In the back of her mind she wondered where in the hell Damon was. She figured he'd be practically glued to her side considering she promised him the night of his life with all the sex.

Her eyes slowly drifted shut as the hot water soothed her body, making all the day's events slowly disappear.

* * *

Elena felt hot water and bubbles hit her face and she sputtered awake. She wiped the bubbles out of her face before looking up at the offender with angry eyes. She was faced with Damon's cocky face looking at her from the side of the tub. "I see you're already wet and ready for me," he teased her.

"Ass face," Elena muttered and rested back against the edge of the tub, closing her eyes again. "Why are you so rudely interrupting my bath?"

"Because I'm here for my reward on taking you to the dance," Damon reminded her flashing her a huge smile as she peaked open an eye to look at him.

"Well you're going to have to wait a little bit longer, I'm relaxing," Elena informed him and before she knew it he was fully naked getting in the tub on the opposite end from her.

"Damon! What - what are you doing?" Elena sputtered out as water hit her in the face.

"I love bubble baths," Damon drawled out waggling his eyebrows at her. "Especially with beautiful, naked women like yourself."

Elena sighed, shaking her head at him. "I'll allow it as long as you behave yourself."

Damon gave her a positively lewd smile and dunked his head under the water. She brushed his actions off and closed her eyes again relaxing into the water. She peaked her eye open again as she felt her hair being brushed back from her face and was met with Damon's face.

She gave him a confused look but he placed a kiss on her lips before she could question him on it, which she assumed was his intention. The kiss was extremely sweet and slow and she melted quickly in his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist underneath the water. She stroked his back unconsciously as he kissed her deeply. His hands cupped her face as he deepened the kiss further by prodding her lips to open with his tongue.

She opened her mouth to him slowly, their tongues tangling in a slow dance that they only knew the rhythm too. She found herself falling under his charm, wanting to be closer to him, to feel all of him. She acted on her thoughts and pressed herself closer to him, her hands moving from his back into his silky, wet hair. He let out a low moan against her lips as she pulled on the strands to bring him closer.

The kiss ended all too soon seeing as she needed to breathe. He rested his forehead against hers waiting for her to catch her breath.

"Wow," she whispered giving him a smile. "You can kiss me like that any time you want."

"Duly noted," he said giving her one last kiss before sitting on the opposite end again.

"You want to do something else for me?" Elena asked sweetly, using her doe eyes to reel him in.

"Depends on what it is," Damon told her cautiously.

"A foot massage," Elena pouted and watched as he laughed at her before picking up one of feet. She smiled at him as he gently began massaging her foot.

She gave a satisfied sigh at his ministrations and closed her eyes. He smiled at the calm expression on her face. He was wrapped up in his thoughts and he thought about how he was trying to let Katherine out of the tomb. He was starting to fall for Elena, and hard. She was perfect, kind, and adorable. He couldn't imagine losing her but the thought that she might leave him was too much. He would swallow his feelings for her but he also couldn't get over Katherine. Yet. He had been searching for her for over a century and he couldn't just give up now, those feelings don't just go away. He'd decided his plan was to wait until he released Katherine and then figure out what to do, but he knew if Elena found out it would hurt her. He was faced with an internal dilemma and he had no idea what to do about it.

Elena's eyes opened and she looked over at him, noticing that he seemed to be in deep thought. She cocked her head to the side as she studied him, "what are you thinking about?"

Damon's head snapped up at her words. "You," he answered simply.

A smile lit up her face, she pulled her foot out of his hand and made her way through the water to him. She situated herself in his lap, running her fingers in his hair to get him to look at her.

"What about me are you thinking about?" she asked him curiously.

"How I don't want to hurt you," Damon answered honestly and he watched her face fall sadly.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"I don't want to hurt you, but I don't know how to not hurt you," Damon admitted. "I have a habit of hurting and disappointing everyone around me."

Elena sighed as she tried to figure out the best way to answer him. She settled for running her hand down his cheek and pressing her forehead against his. She took a deep breath before answering him.

"You're not disappointing me," Elena whispered, her thumb tenderly stroked his cheek.

"Is this real?" he asked her suddenly, closing his eyes to her touch.

His question caught her completely off guard and she stared up at him. "Is what real?"

"You and me. Is it real?" he asked her, his voice in a whisper.

Elena pondered his question in her head. She definitely had feelings for him and wanted more of a relationship with him. But was it real? Could they keep going on in this fantasy world where they just had a casual relationship but never really admitted their feelings for one another. She still wanted it though, whatever he decided to give her, so she finally gave him something.

"I think it's real," Elena confessed softly, his eyes snapped open and flicked to hers. She pressed her lips carefully to his, placing a soft kiss on his lips. The kiss slowly escalated and they were wrapped up in each other, pouring the emotions that they couldn't say into one kiss. She gave him everything she had, pressing herself against him, feeling all of him. His hands found their way into her hair, holding her to him as he angled her head to properly dominate her mouth. She gave herself to him letting him control her in the most delicious ways possible.

His tongue slid against hers, playing together in their own special dance. She was practically liquid underneath him, falling under his charms. She moaned as one of his hands found one of her breasts, he massaged it gently in his hand.

Their coupling was soon becoming fast and erratic as she pulled her lips away from his. Her forehead resting against his as they both took in sharp breaths. He recovered before her and his lips went to her neck, laving it up with his mouth and tongue. His assault on her body seemed to become unstoppable and she threw her head back. His tongue and hands were relentless on her skin as they played her body like an instrument.

"Bed," she whimpered in his ear and he obeyed her standing up in the bathtub. She wrapped her legs quickly around his waist and moved his lips back to hers. Before she knew it she found herself pressed against the bathroom door. Her hands clung to his shoulders as he began grinding his lower body against hers.

"I said bed," she mumbled against his lips. She felt Damon smile against her lips and he yanked her away from the door and threw it open almost taking it off its hinges.

She felt her back hit the bed and opened her eyes to find him staring down at her. It surprised her to see the completely vulnerability in his expression, she gave him a smile, giving him the silent permission he seemed to need to take her.

Damon wanted to explore her entire body, worship it. He started at her face, he pressed his lips against hers, a soft caress. Before moving down her cheek to her ear, where he nipped lightly. Her breathing increased and her heart rate spiked as he made his way down her neck. He spent a generous amount of time there, licking at her pulse point. He wished that he could bite her, but unfortunately they weren't ready for that yet. So instead of teasing his vampire senses any longer he kissed his way down to her breasts.

He paid special attention to her delicious peaks, running his tongue around her nipple before enclosing the whole thing with his mouth and sucking. She squirmed beneath him, torn between hating and enjoying the pleasure that he was putting her through. He suddenly switched breasts making her squirm a little more, her hands curling in her sheets.

He seemed to find it a distraction and grabbing her hands, intertwined their fingers together. She squeezing them tightly as he finally kissed further down her body to her heated core. He didn't touch it, instead he went everywhere but where she needed him the most.

"Please! Damon! I need - I need you," she whimpered as he kissed his way down her inner thigh. Once he was done with her right leg he passed her core again and she thought he was finally going to give her what she wanted but he skipped over it. She let out a frustrated groan as he made his way down her left thigh.

"Patience is a virtue, Elena," he teased her but reluctantly made his way back up her body, kissing his way until he finally made it to her face.

"I don't do patience, I want you," Elena whined and placed a pout on her face, hoping that he'd sympathize with her and just give her what she wanted. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

He chuckled and tapped her nose with his finger. "Don't worry, you'll get me."

His hands found hers again and held them up over her head as he leaned down to kiss her. She was too enthralled with the kiss to even realize that the tip of his erection was placed against her. By the time she did he was pushing himself inside of her.

They let out mutual muffled moans into each others mouths, as he slowly slid home. He stayed still for a few minutes, enjoying the simple pleasure of kissing her while also being inside of her. Elena, however got very impatient and moved her hips against his in order to create some kind of friction between their two bodies.

He seemed to get her silent begging and began to move at a slow but deep rhythm inside of her. Her grip tightened on his hands and her breathing deepened making it almost impossible to keep kissing him. He seemed to realize that and stopped but their lips were only centimetres away from each other. Their breath mingling together as the sweat formed between their bodies.

He gradually picked up the pace, rocking back and forth inside of her. He let go of one of her hands reluctantly and gripped her thigh stretching it up to rest on his shoulder. It allowed him to go deeper inside of her and her free hand gripped tightly at his shoulder. Her back arched as his thrusts were slowly reaching vampire speed.

The amount of pleasure coursing through her body was indescribable, it felt like she was on fire and he was everywhere. She moaned when he bent her leg back further and she was silently thanking cheerleading for her flexibility or else this wouldn't be pleasant. The same thought seemed to be on his mind as he mused, "God bless you for being a cheerleader."

"You better appreciate it," Elena mumbled out which slowly turned into a low moan as he swivelled his hips inside of her, hitting all new spots that were completely foreign to her.

"I appreciate all of you," Damon grumbled back and watched with fascination as she seemed to begin to unravel beneath him. He realized that she was hurtling towards her orgasm and fast.

He quickly pumped his hips against hers, attempting to bring himself to the brink just as fast as she was going. Her entire body seemed to tighten below him; her back arched more, her hand squeezed his, hand gripping his shoulder, eyes shut tight. He watched her face as she opened her mouth wide just as her orgasm hit her. Her walls were coaxing him to follow soon after her and he did. He came deep inside her, pumping his hips a few more times before stilling.

He rolled gently off of her, they were both breathing heavily. They laid there for several minutes before Elena rolled over and rested her head on his chest, her leg tangling with one of his. His hand rested on her waist as he stared up at the ceiling. Neither of them said a word for quite some time, decided that words weren't needed for this situation.

Elena took the opportunity to lighten the mood a bit and let out a sigh as she looked at her bed. "We got the sheets wet," she observed lifting her face up to look at him.

"That's all your fault, I was pretty happy with doing the dirty in the tub," Damon retorted back. Her effort to lighten the mood had obviously worked and she smacked his chest lightly with her fist. "Seriously? Are you sure you haven't been abusive before I came along?"

"I have to use physical punishment on you because you frustrate me so much with your attitude," Elena muttered, her arm wrapped around his waist pulling him closer to her.

"You never did tie me up, maybe you'll like to try that now," Damon suggested and Elena's laugh was muffled by his chest. "Round two?" he questioned her and she scoffed at him, before yawning tiredly.

"Maybe later, you wore me out," Elena said sleepily, closing her eyes and snuggling into his chest.

"I have that affect on women," Damon stated and he felt Elena smile against his chest but she decided to ignore his little comment. Her breathing evened out quickly and she was fast asleep. He moved them slightly being very careful not to wake her up so that he could get them under the covers. He brought them over their bodies, cocooning them in it. He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before snuggling into her embrace. He fell into a deep sleep with a smile on his face because of the girl wrapped tightly around him.

* * *

**You people are probably mad that Damon is still thinking about getting Katherine out of the tomb. But she's essential to the storyline I'm creating, so just bare with me.**

**You'll get lots of betrayal in the upcoming chapters and very heated words ;)  
**

**But I gave you smut in this one so? Still love me?**

**Review please! It makes my imagination come out to play.  
**


	5. Betrayal

Elena had just hung up her phone with Stefan as she rushed down the stairs, throwing her jacket on in the process. After Damon had left in the morning she had figured that she should probably clear the air with Stefan and get some things off her chest. She knew that she had broke up with Stefan so abruptly and they hadn't really gotten a chance to talk about things and clear the air with him. She had convinced herself that this was the right thing to do, especially now that things with Damon were... well I guess she'd just call it... heating up?

They still hadn't defined what they were and it was tearing Elena up inside but everything had been too much lately and Damon was the only thing in her life that made sense right now. She had to deal with her other problems than deal with him.

She met Stefan at the Grill, her heart pounding in her chest as she saw him sitting at one of the outside tables. It really was a beautiful day, too bad this was going to be one of the hardest conversations that she was going to have in her life. And after this she had to clear the air with Jenna and find out more about her birth parents. So many unwanted conversations today and it was only ten in the morning.

She took a seat in the chair across from Stefan, brushing her hair off her face before looking up at him cautiously. He seemed to be relaxed, and when she sat down he gave her a smile which she reluctantly reciprocated.

"Hey," Elena greeted him in a small voice that she was sure he only heard because he was a vampire. "Thank for meeting me, I know it seemed..." she searched for the right word, "weird."

"It's no problem," Stefan said giving her a shrug. "What did you want to talk about?"

"About our breakup mostly, I know it was kind of fast and we never really talked about what happened. I guess I just wanted to talk to you and clear the air about exactly why I had to end things you know. You have to know it was extremely hard for me to do." Elena ranted, fiddling with her hands in her lap. "I mean I was already dealing with a lot of things so I just didn't have the strength to really talk about it before but I just want you to know I didn't take it lightly."

"Elena, it's really okay, you don't have to explain yourself I know what I did wrong."

"I just have to know why you lied to me about so much stuff? About you being a vampire, about my resemblance to Katherine, about me being adopted? What else didn't you tell me?" Elena asked him, curiously but forcefully.

She really needed to get everything out in the open before she could truly move on with her life and with Damon too. She was secretly hoping that soon everything would go back to normal for once.

"Actually there is more that I do have to tell you, I've been trying to figure out how I should tell you. You and Damon are just getting so close I didn't want to hurt you. But now I feel like you should know," Stefan started, leaving it there waiting for Elena to give him some indication that she wanted to know more.

"Tell me, just get it over with. My life can't be even more worse," Elena decided, running her fingers through her hair again.

"Just answer me a question first." Stefan said and Elena nodded so he continued on, "You and Damon. Something happened in Atlanta didn't it? On your road trip?"

Elena's heart stopped at his question as she stared at him with wide eyes. She didn't know whether to be truthful or to lie to him. She decided on a question instead.

"Why do you think something happened?"

"Because of the way you were at the dance. I witnessed the kiss Elena, I do have eyes. You guys have been getting a little close lately and I figured something might have happened between the two of you," Stefan explained softly.

"Yes, something happened," Elena instantly regretted her decision to tell him the truth as she watched his face fall. "I think that's a big part of the reason why I broke up with you. I didn't think I deserved you after what I did."

"Elena, I would have took you back no matter what you did as long as you still wanted me," Stefan assured her reaching across the table for her hand.

She didn't pull her hand away but she shook her head before saying, "I know you wouldn't have. I think that's why we really shouldn't be together. We're just going to lie and hurt each other but in the end always take the other back. That's not healthy."

"I do love you, Elena, I think I'll always love you," Stefan was almost pleading with her now.

"I know you do, I love you too Stefan. I just can't be with you. You were good for me right after my parents death when I needed someone. You were there for me and ultimately worked through it for me. Me loving you got me through that but you were my safety net. I can't let you be that for me, you deserve somebody who really truly loves you. I'm not that girl and I'm sorry for that," Elena said in a soothing voice, trying to make it sound not to mean.

"You are that girl for me, Elena," Stefan protested against her words. "I'm sorry about Katherine. I should have told you about her but I didn't want to risk losing you."

"You lost me either way, Stefan," Elena reasoned with him, "I honestly don't know if we'd still be together if you had told me the truth. But we have to get through this and move on. I'm trying and you have to too. There will be another girl for you Stefan, and you'll find her."

"Are you and Damon serious?" Stefan suddenly asked her, removing his hand from hers.

Elena thought about his question seriously before answering him, "I care about him a lot, but I just don't know where he stands right now. It's all very confusing and he just needs to tell me how he's feeling. I will get it out of him."

Stefan laughed before saying, "you always had a way of reeling people back in when they just wanted you to leave them alone. You can't seem to let people leave your life can you?"

"No, I can't, I've already lost two important people to me, I can't bear to lose anymore. It just hurts too much, so I make people stay because I need them to be here for my own sanity. I know its selfish but I'd rather them be alive and with me."

"Elena, I have to tell you something. It will change your relationship with Damon but I really think you deserve to know," Stefan confessed to her, his eyes were filled with regret and sorrow at what he had to tell her.

"Spit it out, Stefan," Elena demanded, a little impatiently.

"Damon's trying to get Katherine out of the tomb."

Elena's world came crashing down around her at Stefan's words. She stared at him disbelievingly. Seriously what was it with this girl and these two brothers? She took a deep breath. She would not completely lose it in a public place. No, that would not happen. She brought her hand up to the bridge of her nose, pinching it slightly to stop herself from letting the tears fall down her face.

"Why would he do that?" Elena whispered in a small voice as she looked up at him. The tears were just brimming at the surface ready to spill at any moment.

"I think he believes you'll leave him or because he's been in love with Katherine for over a century. He's been trying to get into that tomb for his entire vampire life to save her. He's been in love with her for a very long time, he's not just going to give up on that," Stefan explained to her.

"That's why he said..." Elena started but didn't finish, Stefan didn't need to know about their private conversation. "But he has me."

"I'm sure he cares about you, Elena," Stefan assured her, giving her a smile.

"I told him it was real, I don't understand why he'd want her out," Elena muttered to herself, she didn't even care to be bothered by Stefan's presence as she worked through her thoughts.

"He's looking for your families journal thinking that it will have some key to letting her out, but I can't have her out here. She could hurt you and not to mention the other vampires that have been trapped in there to," Stefan explained to her and Elena raised her head up at his words suddenly intrigued by what Stefan was saying.

"What are you saying Stefan? Are you trying to stop him?" Elena asked him raising her eyebrow.

"I can get to the journal before him and destroy it or figure out where the grimorie is before he does," Stefan said, he seemed to be lost in thought as a plan was circling in his head.

"What's that?"

"It's a book where witches write down all their spells to be passed on through their generations," Stefan explained. "We have to stop him. I need your help. I need you to keep him distracted while I track it down. Can you do that?"

She couldn't imagine hurting Damon like that, he would be furious if he ever found out what she was planning on doing to him. But on the other hand, he was trying to get Katherine back when he was pretty much dating her. She had to do this, she had to protect her town, and also herself. She couldn't stand it if she had to see her and Damon together.

"I'll do it," Elena decided, nodding her head into making herself believe her own words.

"Thank you, Elena," Stefan said before adding, "I'm really sorry I had to tell you, but you deserved to know about what was happening. I learned my lesson once with lying to you."

Her lips quirked up at that before giving him a real smile. "I think we'll be okay enough to be friends one day, don't you?"

"I think we're getting there already," Stefan admitted.

"Now I have to go have another talk with Jenna about my birth parents. She told me she would tell me everything. However, something tells me that she doesn't know much. But it would be nice to know everything she has," Elena said standing up.

Stefan stood up to and offered his arms out to her in a hug. She accepted gratefully wrapping her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. She kissed his cheek lightly, "thanks for telling me about Damon."

"I'll always look out for you, especially when it comes to Damon," Stefan promised her before letting go of her gently.

"I can handle myself," Elena reminded him giving him a smile before turning around to walk back to her car.

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess as she thought of how she was going to deceive Damon into thinking she was really okay when in theory she was the opposite of that. She'd just have to pretend his betrayal never happened until Stefan got the journal and then she was really going to let him have it.

* * *

Elena waited until her aunt came home to have the talk about her birth parents but unfortunately, she decided that she wanted to stay on campus instead to finish some paper she was working on. Jeremy happened to be out with this girl named Anna that he just met and Elena was feeling lonely all alone in her big house.

She had half a mind to call Damon and ask him to come over but she wasn't going to go crawling to him. He had lied to her and obviously he didn't even care about her. Her mind kept telling her to let him go, but she really didn't want to. With Stefan, it had seemed almost easy to let him go, because somehow she knew it wasn't right anymore. But with Damon, letting him go, was going to be the hardest thing she ever had to do. On the other hand looking at him would be almost too much for her to handle because of his betrayal.

Elena had currently taken up residence on her bed, she was laying down on her stomach with her teddy bear cuddled up underneath her. The stuffed animal always seemed to help in her most depressing situations. She heard a sound at her window but didn't bother looking up. She felt the weight shift with Damon's body as he took a seat beside her on her bed.

"You've been ignoring my calls all day," Damon stated bluntly.

"I didn't really feel like talking to anyone today," Elena muttered, sighing.

She closed her eyes as Damon's hand brushed through her hair, stroking it back from her face. She got lost in the feeling of his hand on her face, gently stroking her hair and cheek. She desperately wanted to give herself over to him and turn over to face him. Instead of doing what she wanted, she stayed still and let him do whatever he wanted to do.

"Talk to me," Damon whispered softly, arranging himself to lie next to her.

She decided to choose then to turn over and face him. Damon had almost an open and vulnerable expression on his face and she so badly wanted to cave and tell him all that was bugging her but she couldn't.

"I can't talk about it with you," Elena said sadly and watched as he took her hand in his squeezing it gently.

"Is it about Stefan?" Damon asked and she shot him a confused look, so he explained further, "I saw you guys talking earlier this morning."

Her heart almost stopped in her chest when she thought that maybe he had overheard their plan to not let Damon anywhere near that tomb to release Katherine. But the fact that he was here and not furiously raging about the town ripping people's heads off was a good sign.

"Yeah, I wanted to clear things up, some stuff just needed to be said," Elena explained reluctantly. "I think we just needed closure, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt."

"I think that's what I need to," Damon said and her ears perked up at that. "With Katherine. I've been searching for her for over a century. Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth it."

"Sometimes you have to let people go even if you don't want to," she said softly, giving him a reassuring smile.

So maybe Damon was reconsidering his actions about releasing Katherine from the tomb but she was still cautious about it. She'd still help Stefan because realistically she couldn't have all those vampires come out and attack every single person that he loved here. She'd have to keep pretending, no matter how hard that was for her to do.

"Okay, enough of this sob fest," Damon exclaimed getting off her bed to stand up in front of her. "Get up, I'm making dinner tonight."

"I really don't feel like eating," Elena said, denying his offer.

"And I really don't feel like reviving you when you pass out from starvation," Damon said leaning over and grabbing her off the bed, throwing her over his shoulder.

He walked downstairs despite her protests and the punches she was repeatedly giving to his back in a way to get him to put her down. Eventually he did, when they were in the kitchen.

"I'm a fabulous cook," Damon said proudly as he began moving around her kitchen as if he'd lived there for years. He knew her kitchen better than she did. Then again she never used half of this stuff because they ordered food most of the time. "My mother taught me when I was human."

Elena was intrigued that he was telling her something about his past.

She smiled at him before asking, "What was your mother like?"

"She was a wonderful woman. She loved to cook most of all, but she also enjoyed horseback riding. She was also the one to teach me how to ride. She spent a lot of time in the stable looking after them, even though we had people to take care of that. She was a caring woman, and when she stood up for something... She was always very powerful," Damon answered, she watched the way his eyes lit up as he talked about his mother. "She had her rare moments when she stood up to my father, but he always listened to her."

"When did she die?" Elena asked sadly, walking over to him at the stove as he was mixing some in a pot.

"When I was about 10. She had cancer, she died a year after she was diagnosed," he explained, his voice becoming lower as he talked about her.

Elena had the overwhelming need to comfort him and just wrap her arms around him. She wanted to chase all his demons away from him, so that he no longer hurt anymore.

She carefully slipping her arms around his waist from behind, burying her face in the hard muscles of his back. At first she felt the tension in his body at her gesture but he soon relaxed into her embrace, letting her hold him.

Something told her that she shouldn't keep up the charade anymore, that she should just tell him what he and Stefan are planning to do to him. Her walls came crashing down around her as she whispered into his back, "do you want Katherine back?"

His muscles tensed up again at her very honest question. He sighed before answering her, "I don't know. A part of me wants her back because I'm not sure you'll stay. But the other part wants her back for the closure I know I need from her. Then there's also the part that says don't do it, because you'll lose Elena either way."

"You're right, if you do release her from the tomb you will lose me," Elena confessed and he turned around to face her. "I can't compete with a girl you've loved for more than a century Damon."

"I like being with you, you make me feel wanted, needed," Damon said cupping her face in his hands. "I've never felt like that with anyone before."

"You make me feel a lot of things I've never felt before too, but I understand that you need her," Elena explained giving him a sad smile. "What I don't understand is why you and Stefan have been trying to figure out ways to free her, without telling me about it."

"I'm in love with her Elena, I can't just turn those feelings off," Damon explained, pleading with her to understand his side.

"I can't have all those other vampires in this town, Damon, you can't release her. I won't allow it."

Their hands seemed to drop from each other's bodies as they realized that they wouldn't agree on this. They would both take drastic actions in order to prevent what the other wanted from happening.

"I'm sorry, but I have to," Damon said and there was a gust of wind and then he was gone.

She looked at the half cooked dinner that he had been making for her and sighed as she turned the elements on the stove off and proceeded to dump everything in the garbage. It just seemed to remind her of what had just happened. As she was dumping the last of it into the trash she heard a knock at the front door. Some part of her hoped that it was Damon coming to change his mind about leaving her to go get Katherine.

But when she swung open the door it revealed Stefan. He was holding a bunch of photocopied papers in his hand, "I got the journal. I know where the grimorie is."

* * *

Her and Stefan had been digging into his father's grave for what seemed like hours. Stefan had caught her up on the drive over here. Apparently, his father wanted it to be buried with him when he died, so that's why they were here. Her thoughts had been centered around how she could actually go through with doing this to Damon. She kept repeating in her head that she had to, but that didn't make her feel any less bad about it.

"Isn't this cozy?" she heard come from behind her.

She turned around and saw Damon standing there with an angry look on his face which was masking the hurt look that was just below the surface.

"I can't let you release her, Damon," Stefan said softly from behind her.

"Don't worry I expected this from you," Damon said but his eyes were focused on Elena. "You, however, I knew you didn't want Katherine back but the lengths you're going to in order to keep it from happening are not right."

"God damnit Damon, I care about you," Elena bit out and she saw the shocked look cross his face. "I wanted to be with you. Then I found out you want to bring another girl back from the dead. How do you think that makes me feel? Of course I'm doing this."

"I also told you I can't shut my feelings off, I need this," Damon retorted back.

"Damon, I'm here, she's not," Elena whispered, "how can you not see that this isn't right?"

"I know you'll just leave, everybody leaves."

"How do you know that? I've lost a lot of people that are close to me to Damon," Elena said angrily, there were tears forming in her eyes. "You think the people I have left I'm going to actually leave them?"

"I never thought about it like that," Damon said in a low voice.

"Of course you didn't, you were only thinking of yourself!" Elena shouted at him, she turned on Stefan then. "Give him the damn book, obviously he cares about it more than anything else."

"Elena..." Damon said brokenly, giving her a sad look as she went to storm off.

"Don't bother, I don't want to hear any apologies from you," Elena spat at him as she passed by him. "They'll all just be lies anyway. Must be a family thing."

She heard Stefan's sharp gasp come from behind her at the stab at him. She decided to ignore it and walked on but not before Damon grabbed her arm forcing her to look at him.

"Let me go," Elena said, in a small but powerful voice, she tried to rip her arm out of his grasp.

"If I can't have you, I need that book," he said in a warning and before she knew she was turned around in his grasp. His front pressed against her back. She squirmed against him, trying to get away from him.

He lifted his wrist up to his mouth and bit in to it. He held it up to her mouth and forced it on her. Her eyes went wide as she felt his blood pool down her throat.

What surprised her was that it tasted really good, she soon found herself drinking it down willingly. She latched her hands onto his arm to keep it there as she greedily drank from his wrist. She heard Damon moan quietly behind her and felt his lips at her ear.

"Slow down," he whispered low enough for only her to hear, before taking his wrist away from her all too willing mouth. "Now Stefan toss over that book or we'll have a vampire for a girlfriend."

"Don't give it to him Stefan," Elena said.

"I can't let you become a vampire, Elena," Stefan stuttered. "You don't deserve that life."

"He won't do it, it's okay, go," Elena said pleading with him and she felt Damon's grip tighten on her as Stefan flashed out of the woods taking the book with him.

"You really don't think I would turn you?"

"No, I don't."

Damon pushed her away from him, his vampire face coming out to play. "You have no idea what your taking about. I'm a vampire, Elena. I can take your life in a split second," he illustrated his point by snapping his fingers.

"You want to turn me into a vampire just to get your way and show Stefan that you really don't care? Is your humanity really gone Damon?" Elena cried out and she reached out and pushed against his chest, tears streaming down her face. "You really are a smug son of a bitch."

"And you're an ignorant girl who doesn't realize what I could do to her," Damon spat back grabbing her arms in his hard to stop her assault on his chest.

"I'm not scared of you, when are you going to get that through your head," Elena ground out. "So go ahead, kill me, drain me of my blood."

"You want me to kill you?" Damon asked her softly, his grip on her arms becoming more forcefully.

The tears were flowing freely down her face as she sobbed out, "I don't care, your gone, my parents are gone, my friends are barely talking to me. If you kill me it won't even mean anything so do it."

"Elena, I care about you," Damon confessed and tried to pull her into his chest. "I'm still here if you'll let me be."

She went willingly, sobbing against his chest. Her fingers curled themselves into his leather jacket, gripping tightly. His hands went to her face as he pulled it up to face him. He wiped the tears from her cheeks carefully. He searched her eyes but it just seemed like pure exhaustion was the only thing that was there.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't fight with you. But I also can't look at you."

"I'll stop looking for Katherine," Damon said, his eyes pleading with her. "I only need you. Just you."

"It's too late, Damon," Elena said softly. "I don't want to have to compete with another girl. You should only want me."

"Please don't give up on me, I know I make mistakes but I'm trying," Damon revealed, "I'm trying to be better for you. Just tell me, you do feel something?"

"Of course I do," Elena cried, "you make me feel so many things. Do you know how hard letting you go is going to be?"

"So don't. Stay with me."

"I can't," Elena whispered and pulled away from him.

He pulled her back to him and this time his lips connected with hers. He was desperately trying to get her to respond to the kiss, his fingers threading through her hair, pressing his entire body against hers. She finally gave into him, relishing in the last time she could allow herself to do this. Their kiss seemed to go on for hours, not being able to have enough of each other. Their lips moving together in a way that you'd think they'd been together for years rather than just a couple weeks. She could taste a mixture of tears that had fallen on her lips and pulled back to look at his face.

She saw the tears that were now coding his own face. She wasn't expecting him to cry over this. She couldn't seem to help it as her hands went to his face wiping them away from his cheeks.

Her forehead collided with his as she whispered, "I have to let you go."

He shook his head back and forth grabbing her hands in his and holding them to his chest.

"Elena..."

"Don't, you're better than this," Elena said softly giving him a small reassuring smile. "Go get Katherine, be happy."

She leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before pulling her hands out of his. She walked away then, trying to find her way through the woods. She didn't realize how far they had actually had to go until she was walking alone. It seemed stupid to be in the woods alone at this time of night but she didn't really have a choice. Her head desperately needed to be cleared on the long walk. The tears had finally stopped falling down her face but she had a feeling they'd make a reappearance as soon as she hit her bed. She got lost in her thoughts and before she realized what was happening she tripped on a branch half way through her trek through the woods.

She let out a squeak as she hit the ground. Well, that was definitely ungraceful and unpleasant. She got off the ground slowly, her hands burning from the force of her fall. She took a look at her hands and saw the scrapes on them. She sighed before brushing off the dirt on her clothes when a figure appeared before her.

She looked up slowly and was met with a familiar face.

Her relief was short lived as they launched themselves at her neck, sinking their teeth into her. She let out a scream as the life was being sucked out of her slowly and before she knew it everything went black.


	6. Make Up or Break Up

_A/N: _**The next chapter is here. This will probably be my last update for about a week or more on this story at least. I just started a new job which seems to be taking up a lot of my time. But I'll try and write bits and pieces of the story every time that I can. Reviews keep me going. Also your PMs make smile if you want me to update. Maybe I'll give you hints about what may happen with the story.**

**By the way, I was really lazy with editing this chapter because I just wanted to get it out.  
**

**HERE'S THE CHAPTER. ENJOY.  
**

* * *

_I want you to find everything you're looking for._

The words flashed in Elena's mind as she slowly woke up from her state of unconsciousness. Her head was pounding and there was a pain coming from her neck. Her eyes flickered open and she was faced with a rundown hotel room. There was a mirror across from her and she saw the blood dripping down from her neck. She shot up in the bed her hand immediately going to her neck. She moved her hair away to get a good look at her wound. She winced as she touched it, feeling a shot of pain go through her body.

**Vampire.**

The thought flashed through her mind and as she frantically looked around the room for any sign of anybody. Seeing nobody she got of the bed hurriedly and ran for the door throwing it open.

As she stepped through the door she was met face to face with another person, who pushed her down onto the floor. This person, unlike the vampire who bit her, she didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" Elena asked as she picked herself up from the ground, running a hand nervously through her messy brown locks.

"Anna," she introduced herself, holding her hand out to shake, "your brother's girlfriend."

"Like hell you are," Elena spat at her, looking at her offending hand like it was poison.

"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch," Anna said walking around the room, sitting on the bed. "I'm just using you for reassurance to get my mother out of the tomb."

"Damon's already trying to get in the tomb, why do you need me?" Elena asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because Damon told me he stopped trying to get into the tomb," Anna said indifferently, giving her a shrug. "That was until he knew I had you. Then I got his full cooperation."

She was secretly smiling on the inside that Damon was doing this for her. She wished that she hadn't gotten mad at him and just left, it seems so wrong. But his lies just became too much to deal with.

"Did you really have to have someone bit me?" Elena asked her motioning to the bite mark on her neck.

"That wasn't anyone working with me, but it does look inviting," Anna drawled standing up to stalk over to her, circling her like she was prey. "I saved you from almost dying."

"Why?" Elena asked, heaving in a deep breath as Anna seemed to get closer to her.

"I have no reason for you to be dead, plus you alive insures Damon's cooperation in the plan," Anna explained. "However, it won't take him long to convince your little witch friend into locating you."

"So why aren't you running?" Elena asked curiously.

"Because I have another piece insurance that nobody else knows about," Anna said giving her a dark smile. "Your lovely brother Jeremy. Nobody thinks he's missing because I got him to leave willingly with me."

"I swear to god if you hurt him..." Elena started, her voice sounding broken. "I'll kill you."

"I'd seriously like to see you try," Anna scoffed before standing directly in front of her. "I'd have you bleeding out on the floor before you even made a move to. Besides I like Jeremy."

"I highly doubt that, why would you kidnap him if you liked him?"

"Because I want my mother back, surely you can understand that," Anna pointed out, raising her eyebrows at Elena. "Aren't you kind of a hypocrite to be saying that though? After all the shit that Damon has done to you and you still go crawling back to him."

"Damon and I, we're over," Elena said softly, looking down at the ground.

Anna scoffed causing Elena to look back up. "Yeah right, I'll believe that when I see it."

"You don't know anything about my relationship with Damon."

"You're right I don't, but I know that he's going to be outside that door in about ten minutes once he figures out which hotel room we're in," Anna explained, but her eyes were fixed on her still bleeding throat.

Hope filled with inside of Elena at the fact that Damon was going to be outside that door soon. It was all she needed to hear. But then another voice brought her back to reality.

"Enough talking, I'm hungry."

Elena closed her eyes as Anna lunged for her already bleeding throat. She didn't give her the satisfaction of screaming and stood there as the whole world fading into black. The last thing she saw before she passed out was the hotel room door being thrown off its hinges as he blew through the room.

* * *

Damon had felt like every meaning for existing was lost as he picked Elena's body off the ground and speed her out of the hotel room. He had brought her to the boarding house an hour ago, and laid her carefully down in his bed. He had taken up residence in a chair beside the bed.

Mostly, because he knew that she didn't want him. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Even though he realized it was completely stupid he settled for holding her hand tightly in his as he waited for her to wake up.

He watched her intently for what seemed like hours when finally his prayers were answered and she practically shot out of the bed, gasping for a breath.

"Elena?" Damon asked carefully and watched as she turned her wide brown eyes at him.

"Damon," Elena choked out squeezing his hand tightly in hers. "You came."

He gave her a weak smile before saying, "I'm here."

The smile disappeared on his face as he watched the tears start to brim her eyes. If his heart was still beating it would have stopped as the tears started rolling down her cheeks. He did the only thing he could think of and held his arms out for her and watched her crawl across the bed before launching herself in his arms, burying her face in his neck.

He felt her sobs being let out against his skin and wrapped his arms around her back pulling her carefully into his lap. Her legs wrapped themselves around his body as she grasped his shirt tightly in her hands.

He didn't know how long they sat like that for, but it was way past the time she had stopped crying. They didn't say a word and it didn't feel like one needed to be said. After some time he started to run a hand up and down her back. This seemed to pull her out of her trance and she pulled back to look at him.

Her eyes were swollen and read and her hair was plastered against her face but he swore he had never seen her look so beautiful. His hand reached up and brushed her hair off her face, giving her a critical once over before looking back up into her sad eyes.

He let out a breath and his face fell, he managed to let out, "I'm so sorry."

"Damon, this wasn't your fault," Elena reassured him, her hands moving up his chest to cup his face. "It was mine. I knew better than to walk in the woods alone."

"But I let you go," Damon insisted regarding her sadly. "I shouldn't have done that."

Elena shook her head running her thumb over his lip. "Shh, it's not your fault."

"You should know that I'm not going into that tomb," Damon said, "I thought I lost you. I can't go through that again."

"You have to," Elena told him and watched as a confused look crossed his face, so she explained further. "She has Jeremy."

Damon sighed, nodding his head. She leaned her forehead against his wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. His eyes searched hers and before he knew it her lips were pressing against his, lightly. It was a feather light kiss that almost made him question if she was really there.

She wasn't expecting the tears to start up again as she pulled back from him, but they did. She watched as he lifted his hands wiping away her tears from her face.

"Baby, stop crying," he said bringing her lips back to his, giving her another soft kiss.

It didn't last long though as Elena started crying again, letting the sobs rip through her again. She buried herself into his embrace once again needing the comfort that only he could provide her. To say Damon was shocked was an understatement as she curled herself up in his body again.

He held onto her tightly in his arms as he stood up carefully bringing her over to his bed. He leaned against the headboard as he let Elena cry against his chest.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked her softly, pressing his lips against the top of her head, trying to provide her with some type of comfort.

"I can't be with you," Elena sobbed against his chest, her fingers tightening on his shirt. "I want to be with you so much but I can't. I can't do it and it's killing me."

"Elena..." he started but before he could say more she interrupted him.

"You lied to me," Elena interrupted lifting her head up from his chest to look into his blue eyes that always reeled her in, but now all she saw there was sadness at her words. "I can't just forget that. Maybe someday I'll be able to forgive you for it and let myself love you. Right now though, it hurts to much."

He stayed quiet beneath her and his gaze flicked down to stare between their bodies.

"But being away from you, it's going to hurt so much more," Elena said sadly lifting her hand up to his cheek, stroking it gently with her thumb. "I hate to ask you to wait for me..."

"Elena..." he stopped her speech as his eyes went back up to meet hers. "I'll always wait for you, no matter how long it takes, I'll wait."

"You won't have to wait forever" Elena promised giving him an attempt at a smile.

"I have to go, gotta be the hero and all," Damon said giving her a smirk to lighten the heavy mood that had fallen on them ever since yesterday.

"I'm coming with you," Elena insisted going to climb off of him but was stopped when Damon's arms tightened around her preventing her from escaping his embrace.

"No you're not, you're still recovering from what happened to you," Damon decided, the warning was clear in his eyes not to question him on it but of course Elena's stubborn side always kicked in and he knew that she'd fight him all the way out the door.

"I have to make sure that he's okay Damon," Elena pleaded with him. "I'll be there with you, nothing will happen to me. Or you can leave me here all alone."

She let her offer hang there in the air as her eyes pleaded with him to consider her offer and just give in to her. She watched his face change to one of worry before he sighed and took her hands in his.

"Don't make me regret this," Damon warned her and he watched her face break out in a smile. "You get hurt and I won't speak to you for a month."

"I promise," Elena told him giving him a quick peak on the cheek before climbing off of him.

This time he let her go willingly as she found her jacket that he had tossed across the bed earlier. He crawled out of the bed after her, grabbing his own jacket before heading for the door. She was hot on his heels but grabbed his arm forcing him to turn around and face her.

She needed to do one more thing before she walked out that door.

He turned around and looked at her expectantly, she gave him a small smile before leaning up to place a hard kiss on his lips. He seemed taken aback at first but quickly let himself sink into the kiss. Her hands reached up and tangled themselves in his hair pulling him closer to her lips.

She found herself needing to feel all of him. She didn't know what would happen tonight but she knew that she needed this. His lips and his hands all over her for one last time. She tried to force her mind to stay away from him but she couldn't help it. She needed him. Wanted him.

He pushed her against the door frame, his hands traveling the length of her body as he tried to deepen the kiss. She let out a low moan against his mouth and opened her mouth, seeking out his tongue with her own.

He pulled back figuring she would need a breath but found his lips trailing down to her neck and then down to her cleavage. He was appreciating it very thoroughly, his tongue licking at her nipples that he had pulled out of her shirt.

She pulled his head out of her breasts before he got too caught up in them. He lifted his head up and returned his lips to hers.

They kissed passionately for several more minutes before they pulled apart breathing heavily.

"What was that for?" he asked her in a strained voice still trying to catch his breath.

"Just in case..." Elena explained offhandedly grabbing his arm and pulling him out the door.

* * *

Damon and Elena had found themselves where the tomb was located. She didn't realize they'd have to walk through so much forest. The realization of what happened when they were here the last time haunted her and she stuck close to Damon's side. She practically glued herself to him and he found it quite amusing to watch her search the trees for any sign of a threat.

"Elena, there's nothing out there," Damon reassured her and she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"You don't know that, plus you weren't attacked in the woods recently," Elena muttered, her hand gripping his forearm tightly.

"Poor baby, you need me to protect you?" Damon asked her giving her his famous smirk.

She slapped him on the arm, "I'm still the damsel in distress, be nice to me."

He held up his arms in surrender and wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her against his side, "Better?"

"Much," she giggled wrapping her arms around his waist underneath his leather jacket.

They both had big smiles on their faces as they entered the clearing where the tomb was located. Elena felt her smile slip as she was faced with the anxious faces of Anna, Stefan, Bonnie and her grandmother. She saw Jeremy off to the side, clearly passed out. She ripped herself out of Damon's grasp to go over to him.

She cradled him in her arms trying to get him to wake up by slapping his cheek with her tiny hands.

"Wake up, come on Jeremy," Elena whispered as she felt someone kneel down beside her.

Elena turned to face the person and was faced with Stefan's concerned face. "You want me to take him home for you?" he asked her softly.

"No, I want to do it," Elena shook her head declining his offer. "Can you help me get him in the car though?"

Stefan nodded and lifted Jeremy's limp body in his arms, she turned around and found Damon standing off to the side. She walked over to him slowly and his eyes never left hers. As she came to stand in front of him she took his hands in hers squeezing them tightly.

"Be careful," she whispered looking up into his eyes. He just nodded so she continued, "Come over after you finish here? We should talk about everything."

"Get home safe," he said reaching up and brushing a thumb against her cheek.

"Don't die on me," Elena said giving him a smile leaning in to his hand before wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a tight hug.

He returned the hug giving her a kiss on the side of the head. She pulled away from him before following after Stefan into the woods. She turned around to give him one last look before disappearing into the night.

Damon turned back around to see the shocked faces of everybody else in the clearing.

"I'm capable of having a heart, yes," Damon said rolling his eyes, "let's get this over with."

"You love her," Bonnie stated and he just stared at her blankly. He was not going to admit that to anyone if he did love her, which was still being decided. Bonnie waited for some kind of answer but he said nothing. "Okay, nevermind, let's just do the spell."

Damon just sat back and watched as the spell was cast. When Anna dragged him into the tomb he had no protests. He didn't listen when Bonnie told him that he couldn't get out, that he wouldn't come out. But somehow he didn't seem to care. He followed Anna into the tomb, trying to recognize the face of Katherine but couldn't seem to find her in the tomb.

He looked for Anna who was trying to feed her mother blood to get her going.

"Where is she?" Damon asked her roughly grabbing her by the throat and pinning her against the nearest wall.

"She was never in here Damon, I'm sorry, I meant to tell you," Anna said, and he could hear the regret in her voice. "She never cared about you."

"No, that's impossible. I watched her get carried into the tomb."

"She bribed one of the guards to let her go free. She promised that she'd turn him," Anna explained and Damon dropped her on the ground.

Anna sat up clutching her throat before running back to her mother.

"I really am sorry, the last time I saw her was in Chicago. She knew where you were the whole time, and she didn't care."

Damon's entire world was crashing down around him. The reality sunk in that the woman he'd been hunting for over a century was not even locked up. He felt like absolute shit. He wanted to drown his sorrows in alcohol and countless woman. His mind however was brought back to Elena. He knew that she was waiting for him and that was the only thing that made him walk right out of that tomb. He ran into Stefan on the way out of the tomb.

"You're supposed to be looking after Elena!" Damon scolded him, rolling his eyes at his brothers stupidity.

"She won't let me stay with her, she wanted me to stay with you," Stefan said, "Now we have about two seconds to get out of this tomb before we are locked in here. Forever. Now go."

Damon followed after his brother and ran out of the tomb just as Bonnie and her grandmother stopped reciting the spell.

Instead of feeling relieved that he had gotten out of the tomb he just felt lost and broken. His heart was being broken into a million pieces and he looked at Stefan.

"She wasn't in there, Stefan," Damon said and watched Stefan's face go through a million emotions. "She's been out this entire time."

"I'm sorry, Damon, I know you loved her," Stefan said patting Damon on that back in a sympathetic gesture before walking away into the woods again.

Damon's first thought was to go to Elena's and tell her how much she meant to him but he couldn't bring himself to bring his sadness down on her so he used his vampire speed to get him to the nearest bar.

He drank away his sorrows at the bar for what seemed like ages. He was practically stumbling out of the bar when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it and saw that he had about twenty messages from Elena wondering where the hell he was. He saw that he also had a voice mail and put his phone to his ear, hearing Elena's voice come over the line. He noticed how worried she sounded the second she started speaking.

"Damon, where are you? Are you okay? Stefan told me what happened." He heard her voice break over the line. "I'm sorry about Katherine. I'm so sorry that she hurt you. I'm sorry that I'm hurting you now. But please just let me know that you're okay." He thought the message was done when he heard her speak again, this time in a whisper. "I care about you, baby, please. I'm so worried about you."

The message cut off and he hung up the phone, staring at the screen for a few minutes before using his speed to get him to Elena's house fast. He let himself in through her window.

He saw Elena curled up in her bed, her journal propped up on her leg. He could tell that she had been crying by her puffy red eyes. She looked up at him and he saw the relieved look on her face. She jumped out of the bed and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. He didn't know what else to do but bury his head in her neck, wrapping his own arms around her.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered into his ear running her hands soothingly through his hair.

"You're still here," he said backing his head out of her neck to stare at her face.

"I'm always going to be here," she promised him staring into his deep blue eyes.

He brought his lips down to hers and she let him kiss her for a few minutes before she pulled back slightly looking up into his eyes, "We need to talk."

"I know, but right now I just need you," Damon said softly his hands were insistent on her face.

"Afterwards?" Elena asked him staring into his blue eyes.

He nodded and brought his lips to hers in the most needy way possible. She let him dominate her mouth knowing that this was what he needed. She let him back her up until her knees hit the back of her bed and she fell over. She let him strip her clothes off and kiss all over her body until she was trembling with need. She let him have his way with her, until she was satisfied and a little bit sleepy. He repeatedly asked her if she was really here the entire time and she kept reassuring him that she was.

She had this uncontrollable need to comfort him in every way that he needed and if sex was one of them she'd gladly give it to him. She knew how much this hurt him, to lose someone you loved. She decided in that moment that she wouldn't stay away from him. She wanted him. She told him so repeatedly that night, that nothing else mattered but him.

They ended up in a tangle of limbs. However instead of him holding her, she was holding him. His head rested on her chest, with his arms wrapped around her. She repeatedly pressed kisses to the top of his head, running her hand down his arm until he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Elena hadn't gotten any sleep, she just stayed up the entire night worrying about Damon. Her eyes drifted shut a couple of times but she always woke herself up just in time.

She would hear him whimper time to time in his sleep and she would tighten her grip on him in order to provide him some comfort. It proved to work; he would stop and snuggle deeper into her embrace.

He woke up slowly, looking up at her. He gave her a small smile which she returned. She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"How long have you been up?" Damon asked her as he pulled back.

"I never went to sleep," Elena said shrugging her shoulders as if it didn't bother her.

"Elena..." Damon scolded her an angry look on his face. "Why did you do that?"

"I was worried about you," Elena whispered and watched his angry facade slip. He looked at her sadly before giving her a smile and brushing a finger over her cheek.

"You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself, you know?"

"I know... but you take care of me all the time, so now I'm taking care of you," Elena said and Damon's face softened further leaning down to place another kiss on her lips.

"You want to take care of me?" Damon asked her a smirk playing on his lips.

"What naughty idea do you have in your head, Mr. Salvatore?" Elena asked looking at him curiously.

"Maybe... I was just wondering... if maybe you'd take care of little Damon?"

"Little Damon?" Elena giggled, the fire back in her eyes and her eyes trailed down his body. "That's what you call it?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" Damon asked her sweetly leaning up and rubbing his nose against hers.

"It's just a funny name," she laughed grabbing a hold of his half-erection.

"Don't laugh while you hold him," he said flopping off of her and onto the other side of the bed. "That's insulting."

"Aw baby, sorry I insulted him," Elena said pouting her lips at him and crawling on top of him. "How can I make it up to him?"

"Kiss him better," Damon ordered giving her a winning smile.

"How about I kiss you better?" she asked him lowering her head to brush her lips against his.

"I guess that would be okay too," he mumbled against her lips, giving in to her delicious lips. He gently rolled them over, settling himself in between her spread legs. He paid loving attention to her lips. Kissing them until they were red and swollen. His hands traveled up and down her body as he gently ground himself against her body.

She pulled back before it got too much and asked him a question that had been on her mind since last night. "What does this mean?"

"What do you mean?" Damon asked her looking confused.

"About us? I know I said you had to wait, but I can't do that anymore. I thought I'd lost you twice in one day."

Damon sighed and brought his hand up to brush her hair out of her face as he stared down at her face. "I care about you too."

"What?" she asked him stunned.

"You told me you care about me..." he started smiling down at her. "I care about you too. I want to be with you. Always."

"Then, Mr. Salvatore, it looks like we're in a relationship," Elena informed him giving him a wide smile. "Congratulations."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Damon leaned down and gave her a passionate kiss that more than sealed the deal of their new found relationship.

* * *

**I hope the happy ending will keep you happy for now! I love you guys and reviews are like my cookies.**

**I was planning on making them fight but I can't stand them fighting so I came up with this.  
**

**Damon's not off the hook for Katherine just yet ;) A long conversation will be had next chapter with some smut ;)  
**

**Oh and the "I want you to find everything you're looking for will be discussed next chapter, just in case you were wondering. She's still trying to put a face to the voice.  
**


	7. The Talk

**Finally I am able to get this chapter out! It took me forever. Some things will get cleared up in this chapter, others not.**

**There will be a lot of talking and a lot of distracting on Damon's part.**

**8,000 words later for this chapter. I can't believe I actually wrote this much for one chapter. I really hope you like it, because I wrote it and then took a couple days away from it and came up with a whole lot more for this chapter than originally planned.**

**Please review. Sorry I don't respond, but I've been busy but I want you to know how much they mean to me every time you review :)**

* * *

"You're not off the hook yet," Elena giggled as Damon pressed kisses against her face. "You've got to talk to me sometime. You can't keep doing this!"

However, she wasn't really complaining. She would be happy to subject to his kisses anytime. But unfortunately they needed to talk and he had been trying to get her to do anything but talk about what they needed to focus on. As soon as she tried to say something he would use sex in order to get her to stop talking. It was absolutely and completely frustrating but she seemed powerless to stop it. Sometimes all it took was for him to slide his leg along hers as he pressed feather light kisses against her neck.

And just like that she was a goner.

She kept telling herself that this time she would stop him before it could go too far. But she had a hard time keeping her hands off of him. She would easily fall into his ocean blue eyes and once again be swept up in him all over again. She couldn't help the effect that he seemed to have on her.

This went on for nearly four hours.

But now she would get his attention.

So when he ignored her attempts for a second time; she took a different approach. She rolled them over so that she could be on top of him. She pinned his hands in the air so they could no longer try and break down her defenses. He had a cocky smirk on his face at first, thinking that she was finally going to shut up and just feel.

His smirk slipped as she gave him a sly smile of her own. "Now you have to talk."

"Technically I don't," Damon countered back his smile slowly slipping off his face. "I could have you on your back in two seconds flat, all it would take is a little bit of vampire strength."

Of course she knew he could do it but the fact that he remained still beneath her told her that he was finally ready to face her and talk about them. Although even if he wasn't, she was going to force him to.

"Damon, stop deflecting and talk to me," Elena said, her tone implying that she wasn't kidding around.

Damon rolled his eyes. "What's in it for me?"

Oh, classic. He needed a goal to head towards in order to have this conversation. She seriously couldn't believe this. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him as she answered him.

"You seriously need incentive in order to have this conversation with me?" Elena asked him, raising her eyebrows at him questionably.

She already knew that he'd choose any other way to get out of this conversation. He was stalling her.

Two could both play this game.

Elena unclasped a hand from his and started to run it down his arm slowly, then all the way down his chest. Right until she hit one of her favorite parts of his body; between his hips where that delicious looking V was conveniently located. She kept her eyes locked on his face, as his mouth dropped open at her actions. Her finger made its way down through his treasure trail and then just as she was about to land on his already half hard erection she stopped.

He growled at her as she took her hand away from his skin; she gave him a evil little smile.

"Once you talk to me, I'll take care of _that_," she said pointing to his erection. "Deal?"

She watched as a he contemplated her offer before he sighed dramatically. "Oh, fine. I probably won't even have an erection anymore by the time this is over with anyway."

"Oh, yes you will," Elena drawled out and leaned forward so that her breasts were pressed firmly against his chest. His lips were just inches from hers as her eyes met his. "Cause baby, I know just what makes you tick."

Damon raised his eyebrows at her, before saying skeptically. "You don't know all the things that make me tick."

"No, but I'm learning them. One by one."

She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips before pulling back to give him a lazy smile. She maneuvered her arms so that they were folded on his chest and her head was resting on them as she stared at him intently.

"I feel a little under pressure with you looking at me like that."

"You don't have to be," Elena reassured him, giving him an encouraging smile. "Just talk to me."

"You're going to have to give me a starting point Elena. I don't do long emotion talks for fun," Damon joked half-heartedly, only giving her a weak smile.

She decided to go for the kill on this one. Get the most recent topic out of the way first. Katherine. She needed to know why he did it. Why he wanted her back. It was all spinning through her mind like crazy as possible scenarios played out in her mind.

"Why didn't you tell me about Katherine?"

"Really going for my soft spots, aren't you?" Damon asked her raising his eyebrow at her.

She just nodded her head, placing a kiss on his chest as she eagerly awaited his answer. He reached up and tenderly placed a strand of hair behind her ear before answering her.

She smiled at the gesture and he gave her a hesitant smile back.

"What you need to understand is that I loved Katherine for a very long time. She consumed most of my thoughts, and the better part of my vampire life I have spent was searching for her."

He paused for a second before starting again. "Then you happened. I met you and it changed everything. You were so different than she was. You had a kindness and a passion in you that I had never seen before. I honestly couldn't believe that kindness would ever be turned on me after everything that I did to you. Somewhere along the way my love for Katherine started to fade. I no longer needed her."

Elena listened intently to his voice, no matter how grave the situation it soothed her. She kept her eyes locked on his face even when his eyes slid from hers to stare at the ceiling.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Damon asked her softly, his face turning to one of vulnerability every second that passed.

"Yes, all of it." Elena nodded, her fingers danced over the skin of his chest in an attempt to soothe all his worries about opening up to her.

"I was so worried that you were going to change your mind. Nobody has ever captivated me like you have. I can't seem to get you out of my head. The nagging thought in the back of my mind is that you're going to figure out that I'm not enough for you."

She gave him a sad smile, before taking one of his hands in hers, intertwining their fingers together.

"What was it about her? I know that you told me qualities about her, but the only somewhat nice one was that she was sexy." Elena asked him, eying him carefully. "Was there anything else?"

"I guess I liked the fact that she was her own person. She didn't do things because other people wanted to, she didn't have to answer to anybody. She was free, and at that time I was longing for that freedom I never got to have under my father."

"Was your father really that horrible?"

"He never believed in anything I did. Nothing was ever good enough. Stefan was always the good child, while I brought shame on my father. I think that's part of the reason Katherine appealed to me, because she was a way to rebel against my father. The fact that I was sleeping with a vampire, would obviously be the easiest and cruelest revenge on him."

"That's not love," Elena whispered sadly, squeezing his hand in hers.

"I know it's not, I realize that now. I have you to thank for that. You're so kind, brave, and sexy all on your own. I love that fact that you are your own person. You really are amazing, you know?" Damon's eyes held hers and gave her a small but sad smile.

"Damon..." she sighed sadly moving her head up to rest against his forehead.

Her hand reached out to the side of his face stroking his cheek gently with her thumb. His eyes drifted shut at her touch and his arms reached around her body to pull her close to him.

"You should know that you are enough," she whispered. "You're enough for me, anyways."

He didn't say anything and to be honest she wasn't expecting him to. But he did tighten his grip on her back as she whispered those words. She kept still in his arms and didn't pry into the subject any longer for the time being. She knew that he needed a little bit of time, so she kept all her comforting words to herself, not wanting to ruin what seemed like deep thought. She was happy with the information that he had given her for now. However, she didn't expect him to be so forthcoming.

She had absolutely no idea how long they sat like that for. It could have been _minutes_.

_Hours_.

_Days_.

All she knew is that instead of him taking care of her, she was taking care of him. She would have let him cry it all out if he wanted. If that's what he needed. It seemed that Damon Salvatore was no cry baby however and was content with remaining absolutely still, locked in her embrace.

"I'm sorry," Damon apologized finally opening his eyes again to look at her face.

"Shhh, it's okay." She kissed the side of his cheek, before her mind wandered to a completely different topic. "Can I ask you something?"

"This is the day you seemed to have declared as spill out your deepest emotions day," Damon said rolling her eyes at her question. "So you might as well just ask anyway."

"I've just been having these weird dreams lately." He frowned at her but she continued on. "They just seem so realistic and it's just given me this weird feeling that it's almost like a memory. But why wouldn't I remember it?"

"Compulsion," he stated simply and understanding dawned on her face.

That explained a lot. She was still trying to put a face to those words that keep cropping up in her dreams. **I want you to find everything you're looking for.** The voice was oddly familiar but she couldn't seem to place it yet. She shouldn't be able to remember it thought considering that's the whole point of compulsion.

"But why am I starting to remember things then? Isn't that the point of compulsion is for me not to remember?" Elena asked him curiously.

She watched a completely uncomfortable look cross his face at her questions. She frowned internally at his reaction but didn't let it show on her face. As quickly as it had come, the look was gone.

"The person performing the compulsion may not have been that strong to begin with. Some vampires are very lazy when it comes to compelling, mostly because humans are just another means to an end with us," he said shrugging.

Something about it seemed a little off though but she decided to not question it at the moment. But unfortunately Damon didn't want to let it go. She really wasn't surprised though when he asked his next question.

"Who was compelling you in the dream?"

Elena sighed reaching up and running a hand through her hair. "I don't know, all I hear is the voice but I haven't been able to place it to a person yet."

"What did they say?" Damon asked her. He had finally asked the question she really didn't want him to. She didn't even understand what it meant herself yet, she didn't want to tell him about it. She wasn't ready to talk about that.

Damon must have read the hesitation on her face because he cocked his head to the side sympathetically and reached up to cup her cheek. She let out a huff and rolled gently off of him onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling but she felt him move on the bed. So she looked over and he was on his side staring at her expectantly.

"I don't want to talk about it," Elena finally confessed, sitting up in the bed.

She suddenly felt hot under his intense gaze and swung her legs off the bed. She need to get away from his prying eyes.

"Elena..." he whispered.

She felt the bed move again as he made his way over to her coming to sit behind her on the bed. His lips found her shoulder blade and she sighed as her body betrayed her, leaning into his lips.

"Don't..." she breathed out closing her eyes.

"Why not?" he asked her, his hands moved her hair off her neck as he placed soothing gentle kisses on her shoulder.

He made his way up her neck as his hand fell from her hair to wrap around her waist. As soon as his lips left her skin and made their way to a new spot; it felt like that spot was on fire. She let out an involuntary low moan due to his ministrations.

This seemed to bring her out of her trance as she found it possible to respond to his question. "I just haven't figured out what it means myself. I just feel like I should do it by myself before I can tell you about it."

He paused on his assault of kisses along her back. "Will you tell me about it when you figure it out?"

She just nodded her head, which seemed to be Damon's go ahead to keep kissing and touching as he resumed the movements of his lips and hands. She seemed to be more focused on his lips as they reached her ear, his teeth closing over her earlobe. She was practically puddy in his hands as his soft tongue came out to play on her ear. His tongue traced the shell of her ear before his lips connected with her cheek. She slowly turned her head towards him so that as his kisses lined her face, she could meet him the middle with her lips.

She was met with the satisfaction of his warm tongue as it collided with her own. He rubbed his tongue along her own and she turned around in order to press herself against him. His hand pressed her closer so that their already naked bodies were pressed tightly against each other; their lips were moving against each other rhythmically and she never wanted to stop.

She wanted more of him.

It felt like a need was burning up inside of her.

Her inner goddess seemed to come out to play as she pushed him roughly down on the bed. He seemed to enjoy her roughness though as he smiled up at her cheekily.

"What are you going to do with me, Miss Gilbert?" he drawled out, a playful glint in his eyes.

"I haven't quite decided yet," Elena responded, pretending to be giving it some serious thought. "But it will be quite naughty."

"Elena Gilbert... naughty." Damon tested out the word on his tongue. "I don't know if it suits you. You might have to prove it."

"Oh, I fully intend to," Elena said giving him a positively naughty grin.

Damon ran his hands up and down her thighs. "You're so sexy."

"You make me feel sexy," Elena whispered, a grin planted on her face and she watched the same smile light up his own face.

"You don't need me to make you sexy; you're sexy all on your own," Damon assured her before he added, "but I certainly do help things with this outrageously gorgeous body of mine."

"You're also way too cocky for your own good," Elena pointed out.

"Would you have me any other way?" He made his point by circling his hips into hers.

It of course had the desired effect as she let out a moan; his eyebrows were raised at her and it served as a silent invitation to finally give into their desires. She ran her hands up his chest to tangle with his dark hair and pulled him roughly against her.

Now this, surprised him as he willingly went into her embrace; wrapping his arms around her for support to keep upright. Her eyes focused on his, piercing into his soul. She could tell that she was making him slightly uncomfortable but pushed the thought out her head.

"I wouldn't want you to be any other way," Elena whispered softly. "I like you and all your cockiness."

His eyes seemed to study her face, but she wasn't completely sure what it was that he was looking for. But he seemed to find what he was looking for as his face lit up and he gave her one of his heart throbbing smiles.

His lips made their way over to hers and they met in a fiery passionate kiss. His hands tangled in her wild messy hair that he had already previously messed up last night and this morning. He had somehow gained control of the kiss even thought she was supposed to be in control. The thought that he had gotten under her skin this early had unnerved her.

She needed to take the control back.

So she pulled her lips away from his; when he tried to bring them back together her finger snuck in, placing it against his lips.

"We haven't finished talking yet," Elena stated, her breathing a little uneven from the kiss. "Stop trying to distract me."

Damon pouted against her finger. "I don't want to do anymore talking. I want you."

"Suck it up." Elena rolled her eyes as he let out a huff and flopped back into the bed.

"You make me so..." Damon put his hand comically into the air as if trying to find the right word. "Infuriated."

"I'll hold up my end of the deal," Elena promised him, her finger tapping his nose cutely. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"I don't do patience," he warned her.

"Maybe we'd already be through talking about it if you would just shut up and stop pouting," she said crossing her arms over her chest pointedly.

"You know when you do that," Damon said pointing to her arms. "It just makes your breasts look even more appealing and it really makes me want to do a whole new set of naughty things to you."

He was so goddamn frustrating.

She huffed and got out of the bed, leaving him looking at her shocked. Too be honest she didn't care as she grabbed his shirt off the floor and dragged it over her head. It fell down to her knees and she let out a satisfied sigh as she made her way back over to him.

"Now there's nothing to tempt you with," Elena said proudly as she took up her spot on top of his body.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Damon whined, his pout deepened slightly.

She shrugged as if he should know. "It comes with the territory of being your girlfriend. I get to playfully make fun of you in order to get what I want."

"I think I'm going to like being your boyfriend," he said smiling softly.

It warmed her heart that he liked it. She knew all too well that Damon didn't do relationships. It made her feel extremely giddy that she was able to get him to come to terms with their newly formed relationship status.

She gave him a wide smile and she leaned down; she pressed a soft kiss on his lips before mumbling. "I like being your girlfriend."

"Have I told you lately how perfect you are?" Damon asked her pressing another kiss to her lips.

"Actually, I don't think you've ever told me that before."

"Well, I guess you should know that you're perfect, amazing, beautiful, and very sexy."

A smile formed on both their lips and she murmured her thanks before kissing him again. He took full advantage of her momentary lapse and ran his hands up her sides under his shirt; his hands danced on her skin. Elena knew that she should stop what was happening but she didn't want to. But god, his hands felt way too good on her skin and she found herself leaning into him more.

As their kiss deepened he rolled them over gently; settling himself in between her legs as they lazily kissed. She arched up into him as he slowly ground himself into her.

Their mutual moans only seemed to fuel the fire that was burning between them. His hands pushed her shirt up and over her breasts as he broke his lips away from hers in order to move further down her body. He captured one of her breasts in his mouth, licking around her nipple slowly.

Oh damn him.

He knew everything that made her tick and he was using it to his full advantage.

"Damon..." she whimpered as he pulled away and kissed his way down her stomach.

He smiled briefly before kissing her stomach again; his tongue swirled around her belly button causing her to moan. Her fingers fisted themselves into his hair forcing him to move his mouth further down her body.

The reality that they weren't having the talk that she wanted to have was starting to sink and just as he was about to settle his mouth of her core she blurted out, "Damon! Stop!"

"I was so close," he muttered low, but she heard him.

"Stop distracting me and come back up here." She extended a finger towards him making a "come-hither" motion with her finger.

He rolled his eyes at her and crawled up her body slowly until their faces were almost touching each other. He sighed, "I will stop trying to distract you now, so get on with your little speech."

"Where do you see our relationship going?" Elena started off by asking the first question that came to her mind. She stared intently at his face as she awaited his answer.

"I see it going very far," Damon said warily.

"What about me becoming a vampire?"

"Do you want to be a vampire? I always thought that you'd want to stay human."

Elena gave him a smile before wrapping her arms lazily around his neck, threading her fingers into his hair as she massaged his scalp.

"I did, it scared me that I'd eventually have to make the decision about whether or not I should become a vampire. I don't really want to give up everything about being human and I'd never want to do it any time soon. But I'm thinking about it."

"Elena, I don't want this life for you," Damon protested shaking his head.

"Don't you remember shoving blood down my throat and threatening to turn me into a vampire just two days ago?" Elena asked him incredulously.

"I was just doing it because I was hurt, I would never actually turn you. Not for my own selfish reasons." Damon explained cupping her face with his hands.

"I know that you wouldn't," Elena murmured bringing his lips to hers, giving him a soft kiss. "Maybe somewhere down the line, I'll be ready to make the decision. Just promise me that you'll be there when I do?"

"Always," Damon promised her giving her another kiss.

He rolled off of her gently, but tucked her under his arm as he pulled her against his chest. She wrapped her arms around him, snuggling her face into his chest.

"You ever think about marriage?" Elena asked him playfully.

"Are you saying that we should get married?"

Elena giggled at his question but shook her head. "No I'm just wondering if you'd ever be open to the idea of getting married to someone."

"I guess I've thought about it, I just never figured that it would be in the cards for me after so long of being alone." She felt him shrug against her.

She lifted her head up to look him in the eyes, she gave him a small smile. "You're not alone anymore."

"Then maybe someday marriage will be in the cards for me." Damon tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She was speechless at his words. She didn't know how long she stared at him for, her mouth gaping open. But it must have been a long time because he brought his hand to her chin, closing it for her.

She blinked her eyes and focused back on his face. "Stop saying such things to me Mr. Salvatore."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" Damon asked her planting a smirk on his face.

"No, but it might make me say things I shouldn't," Elena eyes dropped down to his chest.

Damon was silent for several minutes before answering. "Do you want get married to me?"

His voice sounded so small that she had to look up at him. The look of vulnerability on his face was unmistakeable and she wanted to do anything in her power to make it go away. He turned his face away from hers as she moved herself closer to him.

"Someday maybe, I'll marry you someday," she whispered giving him a peek on the cheek.

He had her on her back so fast, that she didn't even realize that she was now on her back and staring at his face until she was staring up at him.

"Okay, we talked. Now it's your turn to keep up your end of the deal."

"Damon..." she whispered but he shook his head, silently telling her that she really shouldn't ask him about it.

He was trying to bring back the playfulness that they once had by placing a kiss on her nose. It worked and she giggled, smiling up at him. He gave her a smile back before leaning down to kiss her again.

She let him, letting the kiss get her all worked up again. But Elena had other plans and got them to roll over. She kissed him passionately and just as he was letting out moans into her mouth she pulled away from him.

She ignored his groans as she scrambled off the bed. "I'll let you have your wicked way with me once you catch me."

"You do remember that I'm a vampire and that I'll catch you in about two seconds right?" Damon asked her staring at her laughing at her.

Something about this game seemed wicked to her and a smile lit up her face. Of course she knew that he would catch her even before she made it out of the room. She would still enjoy it though. It was that thought that got her to reply with a snarky remark.

"I was hoping that you would," she gave him an evil look before taking off into the bathroom.

And just as she got to the door his arms had wrapped around her waist, pulling her against his chest. She laughed as she felt his hot breath on her ear. "Caught you," he whispered in her ear.

Elena turned around his arms, running her hands up his chest until they were laced around his neck. "Now that you've caught me; what are you planning on doing with me?"

"Well first, I'm going to take this offending piece of fabric off your beautiful body." Damon's fingers found the bottom of his shirt that she was wearing and started pulling it up her body.

"I thought you'd like seeing me in your shirts," Elena said were fingers playing with the ends of his hair.

"Oh baby, I do, it's just right now I'd rather you be naked." Damon shot her a cocky grin, he started backing them up to the bed. "I'd also rather you be under me."

"Well what are we going to do about that?" Elena questioned him as her knees hit her bed.

She collapsed into it and Damon followed close behind her, falling on top of her. "First I'm going to take your shirt off and then I'm going to appreciate your body."

"Do I not get a say in what happens?" Elena laughed.

"Did you want a say?" Damon asked her leaning down to her neck, pressing kisses to the column of her throat.

She leaned her head to the side to give him better access to her throat. She was enjoying his hands sneaking up her shirt to cup her breasts firmly in his hands. "I want the control."

"And what do you want to do to me?"

"Tie you to my bed."

Damon's head snapped up from her neck to stare at her face. His expression was one of shock but it slowly turned into a wicked smile. "Your wish is my command."

Elena was surprised that she'd actually let her do this to him. I guess if he really needed to he could get out but the thought of him being on display and in her control was very exciting. It was all very exhilarating and she stared up at him with a giddy expression on her face.

"Stop being so amazing," Elena said giggling reaching up to place kisses on his face.

He laughed at her excitement and let her show her affection all over his face. "Oh Elena, calm down."

"Sorry, I'm just excited that you'd let me do this," Elena apologized but she couldn't seem to wipe the smile off her face.

"I'd do anything for you, I thought that you would have figured that out already." Damon brushed his thumb over her cheek.

"Well aren't you being cute today," Elena observed raising her eyebrows at him.

"Maybe I like being cute with you."

"I like that," she whispered, flipping them over. "But I want you all tied up now."

"Then take me."

She had a naughty smile on her face and crawled off of him.

"Get to the top of the bed," Elena ordered him as she searched through her drawers for belts.

"You know it wouldn't surprise me if you had handcuffs or something hidden in there," Damon drawled out as he crawled up to the top of the bed. "You were a closet bad girl weren't you?"

Elena blushed. "I wasn't such a bad girl until you came along. No handcuffs for me."

"We'll change that soon."

Elena made her way back to the bed with two belts in her hand. She crawled on top of him and grabbed one of his hands in hers and wrapped the belt around it as she tied him to the bed one wrist at the time.

"I hope I get to do this to you sometime," Damon said, just as she finished tying him up.

She said nothing but gave him a small smile. The excitement was almost too much at the sight of seeing him laying there completely at her will. She didn't have the heart to tie up both his legs but she hoped that he would just play along with her charade.

She leaned down to kiss him. It started off as an innocent kiss but slowly turned into something more passionate as she pressed her lips tighter against his; her hands were exploring the sides of his body. She opened her mouth to him and sunk her tongue into his warm mouth. His tongue wasted no time and tangled with hers. They battled for dominance as they moaned into each other's mouths.

Her hands had moved further down his body as they caressed his hip bones. He let out a loud moan into her mouth and Elena had finally discovered another one of his hot spots. She smiled and giggled into his mouth.

"What are you laughing at?" He mumbled against her lips.

"I found another thing that makes you tick that's all," Elena said as her hands moved from his hips to trace over the muscles of his stomach.

He didn't seem to have an answer and he wouldn't be able to form one as she wrapped her hand around his erection. He let out a gasp as her hand starting working his erection. He started to rock his hips into her hand and she started to pump him up and down. His little moans into her mouth were only fueling her on.

She felt completely satisfied at his reaction to her touch and tried to kiss him again. He seemed too far gone though and couldn't seem to kiss her back as he was lost in the sensation of her touch.

So she settled for kissing the sides of his mouth as she brought him closer to the edge. He was just about to topple over the edge when she removed her hand from him.

He growled at her, pulling on his restraints.

"Why in the world did you stop?" Damon asked her, the anger was evident on his face.

"Because someone's been a very bad boy," Elena said seductively, giving him a naughty little smile.

He smirked at her. "Oh well maybe I'll be bad more often."

She licked her lips and she hovered over his cock. She decided to tease him a little longer and used his erection as her own little toy, running it over her clit.

His eyes were wide as they studied her every move; they seemed to darken as she let out her own moan.

And then finally she sank down on him and they both let out loud moans. She loved the sensation of him being inside of her; she decided to stay still on top of him because he felt way too good. Damon seemed to get a little impatient as he thrust his hips up into hers in order to get some friction between their bodies.

She decided to give in and slowly lifted her body off of him and then slammed back down. She repeated the process several times. Slowly up and rough down. It seemed to be driving Damon crazy that she was slowing down her pace so that his orgasm could never really build up. She was torturing him and she knew it.

"Oh come on Elena, pick up the pace," Damon huffed out, giving her a look of death.

Elena shot him a death glare of her own but none the less picked up the pace slightly. This seemed to make him slightly happier. But he was still getting frustrated with her pace; ultimately she was still happy that he was playing into their little game and not actually getting out of the restraints.

"Stop complaining or I'll stop all together," Elena warned him.

This seemed to have the effect it was meant to because he stopped his annoying whining and slowly closed his eyes. She decided to reward him by moving at a way faster pace than before. She got him moaning loudly beneath her, his eyes still closed.

She felt the need to have him watch her, so she leaned down, her thrusts stopping momentarily. He let out a groan, and she felt it against her lips.

"Open your eyes," she whispered and he did as she asked.

She was faced with his beautiful, electrifying eyes that seemed to bore into hers. She placed a kiss on his lips which he eagerly responded to; she felt pride running through her.

So she was going to put on a little show.

Pulling back from him; she began moving on top of him again. But this time her hands were far from idle on her own body as she fisted them into her long hair. She ran them through her hair which created a beautiful visual for him as she felt his eyes trained on her every move.

Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they trailed down her body to her breasts. She cupped them gently in her hands, massaging them slowly. His eyes seemed to burn holes in her skin as he stared at her mesmerized by her actions. She brought her thumbs to her nipples pinching them slightly, letting out a low moan of appreciation.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured out, catching her attention.

Her eyes flicked to his and she gave him a small smile. She leaned down again and grabbed at the belts ripping them off of his wrists. His arms automatically wrapped around her waist while he forced them into a sitting position. She threw her head back as he paid very special attention to her breasts. His tongue darted out to lick around her nipples.

She was moving up and down slowly, but the combination of his sucking on her breasts and him moving in and out of her became too much.

"So close..." she found the strength to whisper out.

Her moans began to fuel the air as she was hurtling into orgasm. His hands found her ass, helping her move up and down as she rode out her orgasm on top of him.

"Don't stop!" Elena moaned out, her hands gripping his arms, throwing her head back.

He didn't stop. If anything he seemed to move faster. It became a rhythm. Lift her up and down. Kiss every inch of skin that he had access to.

As her orgasm ended she collapsed into his arms, too tired to keep moving.

She was grateful when he took matters into his own hands and switched their position so that she was beneath him. He slowly began to rock himself back and forth inside of her. Her eyes were closed out of exhaustion and he felt as if he was using her body shamelessly in order to get his release.

His mindset changed however as she started letting out moans again. She looked absolutely beautiful with her hair fanned out on the bed, he stared down at her chest and found it was red from where he had been biting and sucking on her breasts. She didn't seem to notice and he figured that he'd pay for that later.

Her hips began to move out of their own accord in order to meet him thrust for thrust. He picked up the pace as soon as he noticed that she was back in the game. He placed one of her legs on top of his shoulder and watched her face change to pure pleasure at the change in position as he went deeper inside of her.

He decided to slow down his pace slightly, but he was going hard enough that he was still giving her pleasure. Their eyes locked and she swore she saw some hidden emotion beneath his eyes.

_Love_.

He was making love to her.

It was no longer about sex. Of course, she knew that the both of them would be too stubborn to admit it to the other. She decided not to point out his change in pace, afraid that he would stop.

She whispered to him how good he felt inside of her and the things he made her feel. It was that combined with their bodies actions were enough to push both of them off the edge.

He collapsed on top of her, wrapping his arms around her holding her close.

"Is sex always going to be like that with us?" Elena asked him softly, wrapping her arms around his sweaty body. Her fingers were tracing lines in his skin and he let out a sound of contentment. "It always feels amazing."

"It gets even better."

"Really?" Elena asked him and Damon lifted his head up to look at her. "I don't know how it ever could."

"I'm pretty awesome baby," Damon said proudly, rolling off of her. "My skills in the bedroom are endless. There is so much I have to teach you, young grasshopper."

Elena rolled over and her hand found its way to his chest, running a finger down his chest. "How are your skills in the shower?"

"They're almost as good. Sometimes the water makes it a little tricky," Damon said smirking, grabbing her hand and pulling her against him. "Want to find out just how good I am?"

"I'd be honored," Elena swooned mockily.

"Race you?" Damon challenged her.

Before she had time to respond he was already up from the bed; Elena followed shortly after him and just as she made it to the bathroom door, Damon was in front of her blocking her way through the door. She tried to push past him but it didn't work, he chuckled at her attempts.

She decided to change her tactic. Instead of trying to push through him she wrapped her arms around him, leaning up to kiss him. He responded to her kiss immediately, his defenses down. Her tongue explored his mouth as her hands reached down to cup his ass. He let out a gasp in her mouth at her bold action. She slowly turned them around, surprised that he didn't even notice.

Ha, take that vampire.

She ripped her mouth away from his and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "gotcha."

She made a run for it into the bathroom, hopping into the shower, leaving him standing there shocked.

"You play dirty," Damon said before joining her in the shower.

She giggled as he wrapped his arms around her, turning on the water to hot. He watched her squeal when the water hit her body and she grabbed onto him. Her face felt sore with how much she'd been smiling today. All because of him.

"Where are those skills you've bragged about so much, Mr. Salvatore?"

* * *

**So did you enjoy it. My little fluffy chapter.**

**Next chapter I'll get back to more of the plot of the show.**

**Katherine will be making her appearance soon, I'm going to try and make it different from the show. ;)**

**Please read and review! :)**


	8. Come and Save Me

**Another chapter published! My little notes are at the end of the story!  
**

* * *

Elena had finally dragged herself out of the bubble that her and Damon seemed to have created for themselves over the weekend. She was slowly breaking through those walls that he seemed to thrust up whenever he was around her. They spent the entire weekend locked in Elena's bedroom, somehow without Jenna or Jeremy's knowledge which still surprised her.

They had only left each others side to; in her case eat or in his to feed. He was always seeming to be slipping back in her window, wrapping her up in his strong arms and taking her to bed. However she really didn't mind, and went willingly with him every time.

She was experiencing a softer and kinder side of Damon that she had no idea had even existed. Although she had suspected that it was how he had been when he was a human and that thought always comforted her causing a giddy smile to form on her face.

Finally, she stepped out of the bubble that they had created to join back into the real world, even as much as she really didn't want to.

She reached the bottom of the stairs after getting a fresh shower, Damon free. The first shower she'd taken alone the entire weekend. She felt incredibly lonely without his touch on her, making her showers a lot more erotic of an experience than she ever thought possible. Plus, wet and soapy Damon was one of her favorite looks on him.

She snapped her mind back to the present as she ran into Jenna who had also been running up the stairs.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Jenna asked her, to which Elena just nodded.

Jenna motioned for Elena to follow her into the kitchen, which she did. They both pulled up chairs at the kitchen table.

"You said you wanted to learn more about your birth mother right?" Jenna asked her as soon as they were settled down into their chairs.

"Did you find out something?" Elena asked, suddenly interested in the conversation she was about to have with her Aunt.

Jenna nodded. "I did a little digging and I think I found her. I did a little searching through some of your Dad's old things, hoping that something would turn up."

"Your Dad was a little bit of a hoarder," Jenna continued, chuckling a little at the memory. "He kept _everything_ from his medical practice. I was looking through old medical records, logs, appointment books. Anyway, I found an entry from the day that you were born."

Elena's interest spiked further at her words. "What did you find?"

"A patient and birth date. Her name was Isobel Peterson."

"Do you think that's her real name?"

"She was a pregnant teenage runaway. I highly doubt that she would keep her name. First name - maybe. I figured that she must have gotten the last name from somebody else she knew. Maybe a best friend, classmate, close friend? So I searched for all the Petersons born in the same year as Isobel and I found a woman named Trudie. She still lives in Grove Hill, Virginia." Jenna let out a much needed breath after her explanation.

Elena was completely dumbfounded by the information that she was so close to finding out who her birth mother was. She didn't expect it to happen this fast. Was she ready to face that truth in her life? So many other things were going on that were far from normal. But this was a lot to deal with.

"Do you think I should go see her? Try and find out some more stuff about Isobel?" Elena asked Jenna, hoping that she could give her the insight that she needed to make this decision.

"It's up to you Elena. I did what you asked, I gave you the information. But I can't make this decision for you." Jenna reached across the table for Elena's hand in a comforting gesture. "The question is; are you ready to meet your birth mother?"

"I don't know. I want to confront her and ask her why she gave me up. But there's part of me that's scared she won't give me the answer that I want."

There was also the fact that if Isobel had never given her up she never would have got to know her parents now. She never would have had this family, never would have lived in Mystic Falls. She probably wouldn't have ever met Damon. So meeting Isobel was like the realization that her life could have been a lot different than what she had.

"There's something else you should know to Elena. Alaric's wife... she was also named Isobel." Elena just blinked at Jenna, and she took it as her chance to continue with her confession. Jenna took a pause before she continued. "She died."

* * *

Damon was currently wallowing in his room, a bottle of alcohol pressed against his lips. After his weekend alone with Elena, going back to their normal reality was absolute torture and he could finally let what happened to him sink in.

Katherine was not in the tomb. She never truly cared for him, and he had spent over a hundred years searching for a woman that didn't want to be found. Even though he was incredibly grateful for Elena, he couldn't help but feel rejected by Katherine.

He was completely aware that what he had with Elena was a lot more real and he cared for her a lot more than he ever did for Katherine. Now she just seemed like a stupid mistake in his past, but he couldn't seem to get past the rejection of it all.

It washed over him as his eyes closed, pressing the bottle defeated to his forehead.

His wallowing was short lived as his cell phones ring tone started to blare, causing his silence to be interrupted. Stefan was out again, he had been continuously out hunting which annoyed him to no end. He just needed to let go and get control over his bloodlust for god sakes instead of feeding on bunnies.

He pressed the phone to his ear, clicking the talk button. "What?"

He hadn't meant for his voice to come out so cynical and annoyed but it did. He immediately felt incredibly bad as he heard Elena's voice come out over the line. Man, he felt like an asshole.

"Damon? Are you okay?" Damn it, she sounded worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wallowing in self pity," Damon said offhandedly. "But you and your voice are helping."

"Want me to come over and make you feel better?" Elena voice purred over the line.

He immediately felt tight in his jeans at her sultry words. "It depends on what you had in mind, Miss Elena."

"I guess you'll just have to come downstairs and find out."

Damon's eyebrows knitted together as a confused look crossed his face. He slowly made his way out of bed, placing his bottle of alcohol on his night stand. He pulled on some pants before walking down the stairs. Elena hung up the phone as he was faced with the dial tone and he shoved his phone back in his pockets as he heard movement coming from downstairs.

He entered the parlor room to find Elena sitting on the couch. When they were on the phone, he expected her look to reflect her words. He was expecting to find her in a sexy outfit but was faced with her in an oversized sweater with yoga pants on. Her hair was pinned on the top of her head in a messy bun. But still, she looked absolutely, unbelievably beautiful to him.

"Surprise," she mumbled, getting off the couch and making her way over to him.

He watched her walk over, her arms reaching out to wrap around his waist, as she leaned up on her tip toes to place a kiss on his mouth.

The whole thing felt incredibly domestic and very relationshipy. He realized that that was not at all a word, but he felt like it described the situation so his mind went with it.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked her as he pulled away from her lips.

His hands reached up to her forearms, as he rubbed them lazily with his hands.

She shrugged before answering. "I found out who my birth mother is."

This shocked Damon, as his face turned to one of concern. He let his hands glide up her arms to rest themselves on her cheeks. He brushed his thumbs against her soft cheeks and watched as she leaned into one side.

"Jenna couldn't find her current address but she did find one of her best friends from high school. I thought I should go for a visit and try and find out some information about the whole adoption thing."

"You want me to go with you?"

Elena shook her head, sighing slightly. "Bonnie and Caroline are going with me. I feel like I need to talk to them anyways and what better way to corner them than in a car."

He knew the statement was supposed to lighten the mood that had fallen over them at the mention of her birth mother; but to be honest she just looked exhausted. He gave her a small smile, "I thought road trips were supposed to be our thing?"

She let out one of her beautiful laughs that he loved to hear so much as she gave him one of her best smiles. He waggled his eyebrows at her, which only got her to laugh harder.

"We'll go on our own little road trip," Elena promised resting her head against his chest.

"Pinky promise?" Damon asked her and he felt her breath of laughter on his bare chest.

Elena lifted her head up to stare into his eyes. "I didn't think Damon Salvatore would _ever_ make a pinky promise."

"Oh I don't, I'd rather do something a little dirtier to make sure that when people promise me things they are upheld. But I really don't think you need that right now, considering the current situation. So, I'll go with the pinky promise on this one."

He unwound his arm from around her and held out his pinky to her in a questioning gesture. He stared at her hopefully, his triumph was evident in his face as she rolled her eyes and wrapped her pinky finger in with his.

"I'll see you later, Caroline and Bonnie are probably waiting for me to come pick them up."

"Come by afterwards? Tell me all about it?"

Elena gave him a smile as she pulled away from him heading towards the door. "Of course, I'll call you when I get back."

"Bye, baby. Think of what you could be doing if you were on a road trip with me instead."

Damon winked at her suggestively, and saw her immediate reaction to his words. Her eyes seemed to rake over his half clothed body, before returning to his face. He saw her shake her head and walk out the door.

He felt a sense of pride race through him with leaving her wanted as she went on her little road trip. God, he wished that he could be on that trip instead of Blondie and Judgy. He'd be getting an earful tonight that's for sure.

His ears perked up at the fact that he hadn't heard her car pull away from the driveway. He walked to the door opening it and he saw her standing about a foot away from her car. He leaned casually against the door frame as he studied her.

She looked like she was contemplating something. It seemed that he would have to be the one to break the silence.

"Forget something?"

This seemed to break her out of her funk and she ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He caught her in his arms, staggering backwards slightly, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. She hugged him in a death grip as she buried her face in his neck.

He was very confused by her actions but didn't question it as he held her in his arms. Truth be told, he loved just being able to hold her no matter what the situation entailed.

"I forgot you," Elena mumbled against the crook of his neck.

He pulled back to look at her, when her head fell down to stare at her feet, he titled her chin up to look him in the eye. "You want me to come with you?"

She nodded and he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Of course I'll come with you, all you had to do was ask me."

She collapsed against his chest again and his fingers worked through her long brown hair comfortingly.

"I don't know if I'm ready to do this Damon. How am I ever supposed to be ready to meet the person who gave birth to me but never raised me?"

"Remember, you're not meeting her yet. It's just somebody who knows her... focus on that. You need this," Damon reasoned with her resting his head on top of hers. "You need to know where you came from."

Elena lifted her head to face him, staring up into his eyes. He found himself falling into her gorgeous brown eyes, as they seemed to reach deep into his soul every time he stared into them. He leaned down slowly, waiting for her to reciprocate the move as he leaned in to kiss her. He was delighted when she closed the rest of the distance between their lips, giving into him.

He felt her soft lips press against his and he slowly inched closer to her. He felt her tongue trace his lower lip and he happily opened up to her. He felt her moan against his mouth, the vibrations setting off his arousal in a whole new way. Soon they were pressed tightly against each other, their hands running over each others bodies. He was surprised at how fast they had gotten carried away, especially being outside in the open where anybody could see them.

She pulled away from him eventually, which he pouted at. But then he saw the dazed look that came across her face, noticing the effect that his kiss had cause her, and happily sent a beaming smile her way.

"Now I'm really going to be late," Elena whined, her bottom lip going out in an adorable looking pout. "I'm going to blame you."

"Or I could just tag along? Road trip 2.0 and all," Damon suggested, giving her a wink.

"I'll let you come if you behave yourself in front of Caroline and Bonnie," Elena reasoned before pointing her finger into his chest. "No snarky comments, no stupid nicknames. You keep everything to yourself or I will have no problem with letting them kick your sorry butt out of the car."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Fine, I promise to be on my best behavior throughout the entire duration of the road trip. I will refrain from calling them Blondie and Judgy. Happy?"

"Very happy. Want to pinky promise again?" Elena asked him holding out her pinky again.

"No, we'll go with the boy scouts honor on this one," he said holding up his hand mockingly as if he was about to begin a pledge. "I'm pretty sure I still remember it."

"How about you just get in the car?" Elena interrupted him grabbing his hand.

"I need to go get dressed, unless you want your friends to see my sexy body?" Damon asked her, motioning to the bare half of his upper body.

"Go," she ordered, pushing him with her hand back into the house. "But hurry up."

He used his vampire speed to make his way up to his room, throwing on the first shirt that he set eyes on, which happened to be a black t-shirt. He pulled it over his head before he padded back down the stairs.

He recognized Elena's impatient look from the car as he slowly made his way around to the passenger's side. He slid into the car, closing the door swiftly shut behind him.

"Ready?" he asked her, studied her face carefully as she put the car in drive.

"Not really, but I'll deal with it when I get there." Elena shrugged her ears firmly on the road. "Right now I'm not looking forward to this tension filled car ride."

* * *

You couldn't cut through the tension with a knife. It was turning into a very uncomfortable car ride. To say that Caroline and Bonnie were less than thrilled when they got in the car and saw Damon was an understatement. They both gave Elena looks of death and she tried to give them an apologetic smile back.

It absolutely did not help that Damon was trying his best to create small talk. It would have just been a whole lot easier if he didn't say anything at all. She kept a smile plastered on her face the entire ride though, it helped to think of the impending doom that was going to happen when they arrived.

Of course, Damon sensed her distress right away and reached over across the console to grab her hand. She was thankful for the gesture, squeezing it tightly in her own. They settled their joined hands in the center console, his thumb was brushing soothingly over her hand.

Caroline and Bonnie's shocked faces were pretty obvious, and they exchanged a look in the backseat which Elena caught in the rear view mirror. She knew they probably didn't get it, but she did. It made her heart sing that he was able to read her so clearly and know exactly what she needed without her actually having to speak any words.

It had her completely dumbfounded and it was in that moment that she realized she loved him. She was in love with him. She thought that when she finally figured it out that it would be some big magical moment, but it wasn't. It was just him simply holding her hand while he tried to comfort her.

She looked over at him and gave him a smile which he returned.

"Thank you," she mouthed to him, not wanting her friends to witness their private conversation.

Damon said nothing but winked at her, bringing her hand up to his lips, giving it a gentle kiss. She let her hand linger there before letting it fall into his lap. She squeezed his thigh with her hand before bringing it over her own lap again.

"Seriously! Can you please stop!" Caroline's voice broke through their peace.

Elena hastily pulled the car over on the side of the highway, she turned around in her seat to look at Caroline. "What's your problem?"

"You guys are my problem. Can you please stop your gross PDA so I can get through this gruesome car ride?" Caroline asked her exasperated.

"Are we not allowed to hold hands?" Elena asked her raising her eyebrows.

She could feel Damon's eyes on her as she held her own. She couldn't believe that she was actually holding her own against her best friends. They were seriously getting on her nerves though, her and Damon were together now and they would have to deal with it eventually.

"Look Elena, we just don't understand your relationship," Bonnie explained.

She heard the car door open and turned to look at Damon who was climbing out of the car. She gave him a questioning look but he beat her to an explanation. "I'll just let you talk."

It seemed kind of stupid because he'd be able to hear the conversation either way but Caroline or Bonnie didn't need to know that. She watched as he casually walked away from the car.

"Okay, now that you've gotten my boyfriend out of the car," Elena began turning back around in her seat to face them. "Spill."

"Boyfriend?" Caroline said incredulously from the backseat.

Oops. She hadn't realized that she'd said that. She didn't want them to know that yet, but it slipped out. Damon had probably also heard that she had referred to him as he boyfriend. He probably had a smirk on his cocky face. She suddenly wished that she was anywhere but this car, she did not want to have this conversation with them.

"Yes, boyfriend. I know you guys don't agree with this and I never expected you to. But he means a lot to me, and I just want you guys to accept it." Elena paused letting her words sink in. "I know that he did separate things to both of you to make you hate him. But I'm giving him a chance, and the minute he screws it up he'll be out on his ass, you can hold me to that."

"You really think he's changed?" Bonnie questioned softly.

"He's proved it to me multiple times. The fact that he's even here is speaking magnitudes."

"It doesn't seem like something Damon would do, that's for sure," Caroline piped in. "Okay, Elena, we'll give him a chance. But you can guarantee that we will give him an ear full if he ever hurts you."

"I was hoping you guys would," Elena said holding out her arms for her best friends.

Caroline and Bonnie moved in the cramped car to wrap their arms around each other. She finally had her best friends back. She really had missed them, there was so many things she wanted to tell them about her and Damon. She couldn't wait to tell them.

They hugged each other tightly, and Elena spoke up again. "I missed you guys so much. Let's never let a guy get in between us again."

"Agreed, let's get this road trip started," Caroline said excitedly as they all pulled away from each other. "You can give us the details later, especially on your sex life."

"You've been with him before, you know how the sex life is," Elena pointed out, rolling her eyes at her best friend.

"So, mindblowingly amazing?" Caroline asked her, giving her a knowing look.

Damon's ego was probably glowing at the admission, he was going to be a cocky bastard for a very long time over this. She didn't say anything but gave them a smile, while rolling her eyes at them.

She made her way out of the car, pretending to go get Damon. Even though he had probably already heard that the conversation was over. She walked over to him and he had a cocky smile on his face. She wanted to slap the arrogant smirk right off his face.

"Let me guess you heard that?" Elena asked him as she stood right in front of him.

"Mindblowingly amazing huh?" Damon's smirk grew bigger and she blushed under his gaze.

She punched him in the stomach playfully. "Shut up."

He brought his hands up to her face, stroking her cheeks as she pouted up at him.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed."

"Get in the car," Elena ordered him, just as he did on the last road trip, which brought happy memories to her mind.

"Not without a kiss first," he said leaning down to kiss her but she pulled away at the last second.

"Caroline and Bonnie are watching, we can't keep doing the whole PDA thing or they're going to kill me," Elena explained giggling as he peppered kisses on her cheeks.

"Just one kiss, that's it." Damon tried to kiss her again and this time she let him.

Their lips met in a soft kiss, as her arms wound around his waist, pulling his lower body against hers. The world always seemed to fade around them when they kissed. She was able to block out the world and just focus on him. She opened her mouth up to him and he gladly slid his tongue inside her mouth.

There was a thought in the back on her mind that this was more than just an innocent kiss. They were practically making out in public, she heard the cars hooking in the distance as they passed them.

She pulled away from his lips, shoving him away. "I think we've given the world enough of us making out for the day."

He just gave her a cheeky smile and wrapped his arm around her shoulders guiding her back to the car. It was obvious that both Caroline and Bonnie had been spying on them and she felt the blush creep back to her cheeks. Well, that's only slightly embarrassing.

The rest of the car ride had been pretty normal. Damon had shared some light banter with both Bonnie and Caroline which had a smile spreading across Elena's face. She was happy that they were finally getting along. She would definitely be making this up to Damon tonight, his good behavior deserved to be rewarded.

Finally, here they were; parked in front of the house that Jenna had given her the address to. Her nerves kicked in and she fidgeted with her hands in her seat as she stared at the house nervously.

The woman lived in a cute little house, which was not what she had been expected. It looked incredibly homey and she saw a white picket fence with a long walkway that lead up to the front door. The door was a beautiful shade of red that went nicely with the white house. It looked absolutely beautiful.

Damon's hand found its way into her lap pulling her hands apart. He threaded their fingers together squeezing her hand reassuringly. She looked up at him nervously but all he did was give her a nod. She let out a deep breath holding his hand in both of hers, squeezing it tightly.

Suddenly, Caroline and Bonnie were exiting the car. She assumed that Damon had said something to them to make them leave but she had been too voned out to hear it.

"Elena, look at me. I know that you can do this. You're strong, remember you keep reminding me?" Damon said giving her a sympathetic head tilt. "You're the strongest girl I know."

She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as he rubbed soothing circles into her hand. She stayed in the comfort of his embrace for a few more seconds before pulling herself together and jumping out of the car before she could stop herself. She marched up to the door, knocking on the door.

Damon decided to stay in the car she was grateful that he didn't follow her she needed to do this by herself.

* * *

Damon watched her walk up determinedly to the door, with a proud smile on his face. Look at his girl go, she was so sexy taking charge. It was one of the things that attracted him to her. His phone blared in his pocket and he fished it out of his jeans, pressing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Damon Salvatore? It's Liz Forbes. I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor," Liz's hurried voice came over the phone. "There's a bachelor auction tonight and we're one short. I was wondering if you could fill in."

"The woman over Mystic Falls fawning over me could be quite interesting," Damon said pondering her offer. Elena would not be too happy about this, but it would be very fun to see her jealous side. Or maybe she'll bid on him. Oh, this could be fun. "I'd be happy to help you out."

"Thank you so much! You really are a lifesaver!" Liz's grateful voice rang over his phone.

He hung up after exchanging pleasantry goodbyes. He was right, this was going to be fun. A slow smile formed on his face at the possibilities of this night. Caroline and Bonnie had finally sunk back into the backseat and he heard them resume their girl talk. Ugh, what a bore. He closed his eyes as he tried to block them out.

His ears perked up as he heard a door slam and his eyes flew open. He saw Elena running hurriedly down the long walkway from the house. He could tell that something was wrong just by her body language; he hopped out of the car to meet her as she came running down the sidewalk.

She crushed herself against his chest and he felt the tears soaking through his shirt. His arms wrapped around her, burying her further into his embrace. He ran a hand soothingly through her hair as the sobs started to get worse. He didn't understand what could have possibly gone so wrong.

"She's dead, Damon. My birth mother is dead," Elena sobbed against him, her small hands were fisting into his shirt, holding onto him for dear life.

"What?" Damon choked out, his worst fear for her confirmed. Damn it, he never wanted this for her. "I'm so sorry. You'll be okay."

He felt her head shake against his chest, denying his statement. She breathed out unevenly into his chest before lifting her head to look at him.

"I feel like all I do is lose parents." Elena choked out, tears staining her beautiful face. "I lost my mom and dad, and now I've lost my birth mother. I don't even know who my birth father is. But it just seems easier if I never know, I can't handle losing another parent, Damon. I can't do it anymore. I can't lose anyone else."

Damon's face fell at her words as he looked at her with so much pity. They really were cut from the same cloth. They both had immense pain in their past and it only made him get her so much more. He understood that she couldn't lose any more people, because he couldn't either. That's what frightened him so much about their relationship. They both would hold on too tight because they couldn't bear to lose the other.

"Oh baby," he whispered his hands gripping her cheeks in his strong hands. "I can't speak for everyone else but you're not going to lose me. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

"Neither are we," Caroline voice came from behind them, her voice small as if she was apprehensive of ruining their moment.

He turned, surprised at the interruption. He didn't even notice them exit from the car, he had been too focused on Elena to care about anything else. He felt Elena pull away from him and turned to face her again. She gave him a small smile before launching herself into her two best friends arms.

He watched the scene play out in front of him as he realized just how close they all were. They all had their arms tightly wound around each other, letting Elena cry into their shoulders. He tried not to listen to their whispered words of comfort because he felt like her was intruding on their conversation.

Elena finally pulled her arms away from her friends, giving them a reassuring smile that she was okay. She wiped her tears away from her cheeks that had stained her cheeks while she had been crying. He saw the make-up running down her face and walked over to her, reaching out his hand to get rid of the black streaks on her face.

Once he had finished cleaning up her face, he placed a kiss on her forehead which she leaned in to. When he pulled his lips away from her head, she leaned up to whisper in his ear. "She had vervain."

Damon's eyes widened at her confession as his eyes swiped the perimeter. He saw a figure off in the distance watching them and felt the instant feeling of a threat keeping up his spine.

"There's a man over there. Let's go," Damon ordered lowly, grabbing her elbow and leading her to the passenger side door. "I'll drive," he announced in a voice loud enough for Caroline and Bonnie to hear also.

They all climbing into the car, as Damon took the driver seat. He turned to look out the back window casually and saw that the man had now disappeared from sight. He looked over at Elena who met his anxious gaze, before looking out the window worriedly.

He all but speed out onto the road, figuring that it was best to get away from this house as soon as possible because something weird was going on here.

The car ride wasn't as entertaining as on the way there and Elena mostly just stared out the window. He felt extremely worried about her, and would reach over to squeeze her knee every once in awhile to make sure she was still there.

He stopped outside Caroline house, considering that was the only place he knew how to get to. He watched Caroline and Bonnie make their way out of the backseat but not before they each gave Elena a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder in passing.

He turned to her when it was just the two of them left alone in the car.

"Why don't you go with them?" Damon suggested to her, which caused her head to turn in his direction. "They can help you through this, probably a lot better than I can."

"I can't, I have to go home and get ready for this stupid fundraiser thing that I got roped into helping with this morning." Elena huffed out a sigh, and another wave of pity rolled through him.

"I'm in the fundraiser," Damon mentioned. He immediately regretted it as Elena's gaze turned to anger on him. Well, he was glad that she was feeling some sort of emotion right now at least, even though it wasn't exactly in favor of him. He felt the need to defend himself. "Liz asked me to help out, someone dropped out at the last moment. It's just a favor."

"I don't want any other woman bidding on you to get you for the night," Elena pouted.

His eyes became playful at her new attitude. "Then maybe you should just bid on me and then you get me all to yourself for the night. I could take you out on a date. Our very first one."

"Damon, I don't have enough money to bid on you. You're going to have millions of girls fawning over you in order to get their grubby little hands all over you," Elena stated bitterly. "I seriously don't have that much money."

"I'll give you the money," Damon offered casually. When he saw Elena's jaw drop at his offer he decided to explain further. "It's just money, Elena. Money means absolutely nothing to me. Plus, it's for a good cause right?"

"I can't take your money, Damon."

"Yes you can, and you will. I'm going to whisk you away for a night without all the drama of our lives and romance the hell out of you," he said, a smile on his face.

"You really are turning out to be such a sweet boyfriend," Elena said leaned over the console to kiss him softly on the lips.

"I'm trying."

"I appreciate it," Elena whispered kissing him once more before settling back in her own seat again. "Now take me home, boyfriend."

* * *

The fundraiser was turning out to be absolutely boring. Damon had stuck by her side the entire night, which was somewhat annoying to her. He was paying too close attention to her, like she could break any second. Of course he would be worried, every time she saw him she was practically falling apart in his arms. It made complete sense, but she hadn't been expecting to see him so overprotective.

She suddenly felt like she was being _suffocated_. She needed to get out of this room.

People were staring at them, as Damon had his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. Truth be told, the stares were starting to get to her and she felt like everybody was whispering about them. Her mind needed some fresh air and she leaned up to whisper in his ear, effectively cutting off his conversation with the sheriff.

"I'm just going to get some fresh air," she whispered into his ear, disentangling herself from him.

He shot her a confused look, but she just shook her head at him. Her feet took her out the back entrance, she raced to the banister of the walk away that lead up to the door. She wrapped her arms around herself as the cold air hit her body. She heard the door open and close behind her but she didn't have the energy to turn around and look at the intruder.

"What's wrong?" Damon's voice came from behind her.

She took a deep breath before she was able to answer him. "I just needed a minute to clear my head. Get away from it all for a minute."

"Did you want to leave?" he asked her and she turned around to face him.

"And miss seeing you get auctioned off? No way," Elena said sarcastically. "It's okay, I'll be fine. Go and enjoy the party."

"I'm not going to enjoy it if you're not there with me."

His words were surprising to her and her feet seemed to move of their own accord as she moved to stand in front of him. She slipped her hands up his chest to link around his neck, her fingers curling into his silky black hair. "What happened to the Damon Salvatore I used to know? Who didn't need a girl tying him down?"

"Maybe he found the right girl," Damon said simply, and Elena felt her breath catch in her throat at his confession.

She stared up into his eyes, she was left breathless at his words. He'd basically just told her everything she needed to know about their relationship. They were solid, she had a feeling that it would take a lot for something to ever come between them.

"I'll give you the good loving tonight if you go back in there with me," Damon suggested, bringing her back to present, waggling his eyebrows at her languidly.

"Are we not having good loving already?" Elena asked dumbfounded. She didn't think it could get any better than it already was.

"Oh, that's good, but I can make it even better. I'll have you wrapped around my little finger." Damon said suggestively. "Oh rather around my body. Preferably your legs wrapped around my waist as I..."

Elena placed a finger on his lips, not needing him to go on. She had a pretty good idea of where he was going with that train of thought. "Oh, would you like that?"

"I like anything that involves you naked." His hands ran down the sides of her body seductively, effectively making her forget all about the auction. She wanted him to take her back home and into a bed as soon as possible.

"Let's get out of here," Elena said breathlessly, leaning into him.

"But I'm a bachelor in the auction I can't leave," Damon protested weakly, even as he was backing her slowly up into the wall.

"I'll make you feel like a bachelor," Elena purred, her hands fingering his belt buckle as she tugging him closer to her. Her back hit the wall and she watched him standing over her provocatively.

"Oh, so scandalous, Miss Gilbert," Damon purred back, rocking his hips into hers.

Elena let out a gasp as Damon's lips descended on hers, as his hips were grinding against hers. He was eliciting the most sexual sounds out of her mouth from his actions. He kissed her until she was standing their breathless with his forehead pressed against hers.

"We're leaving now," Damon said kissing her again as he turned them around, guiding her through the cars. She was thoroughly surprised that he had been able to navigate through all these cars. But as her back was suddenly pressed against a car that she assumed to be his, it all faded away. She was focused only on the feel of his lips against hers and his hands digging into her hips.

She suddenly wrenched her lips away from his. "We need to get out of here."

Damon nodded and opened the car door, sliding inside of it. She ran around to the passenger side and slipped in just as he was pulling the car away from the parking spot. Wow, he really wanted to get out of here. It was pretty obvious as she saw the large bulge in his pants, and that was plenty of proof.

She reached her hand over, placing her hand on his leg, running it up and down as he drove. He stiffened at her touch and tried to focus on the road. She saw him struggling to pay attention, as he sped up his speed on the car. She had a smirk on her face as she rested her head on his shoulder, continuing to run her hand up his leg.

She moved her head to his ear, her lips ghosting over his ear as she whispered in a sultry voice, "I can't wait to get you into bed."

She felt exhilarated by his reaction as he groaned, and he gripped the steering wheel tighter in his hands. She felt the jerk of the car as he stepped harder on the gas. They all but crashed into the boarding house as he stopped the car suddenly.

He was out of the car in no time and around to her side, almost taking her door off its hinges as he rammed it open. She stepped out of the car, attacking him and he was caught off balance. He wrapped his arms around her in order to steady himself, as her lips attached to his neck. She licked and sucked on his skin as he backed her up into the car. He slammed his hips against hers, letting her feel his throbbing erection against her leg.

She moaned into his neck, before she bit down eliciting the sexiest moan she had ever heard from him. This only fueled the fire between them and he moved them again until she was pressed against the front door. He brought her lips up to his, away from his neck and kissed her passionately. He all but slammed her against the door, his hands found their way under her ass, lifting her up. She automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, as her fists tangled into his hair.

Their primal sexual need was on fire, as their bodies thrived against each other.

"Get us to a bed," she mumbled into his mouth. It was muffled but she was sure that he still understood her.

It was proved when he pulled the door open with one hand, as he kept his other securely holding her up by her ass. He walked into the house, slamming her against various walls in his haste to make it up the stairs.

Suddenly, her back hit the soft satin sheets of his bed as he toppled on top of her. She giggled when he landed on top of her a little less than gracefully, which only caused him to start laughing with her. Effectively ruining their previously hot moods to turn into a more playful one.

"Smooth," Elena chided him, sarcastically.

"Oh shut up," Damon said narrowing his eyes at her, he leaned down and placed kisses on the exposed flesh that was visible above her shirt.

"Now that's the Damon I know," Elena said impressively as he playfully nipped at her breasts.

He pulled her breasts out of her shirt, his eyes feasted on her breasts that were now out in the open for him to appreciate it. She looked down and saw his hungry gaze, making her feel extremely hot under him.

Her body arched into his as his lips descended down onto her breasts. He licked around her nipple causing her to arch further into him, wanting him to be closer to her. Her fingers knotted into his hair, pulling on the ends when he did something she really liked.

She absolutely loved it when he was rough with her, he bit and sucked on her skin causing it to become red. She let out a satisfied sigh as he made his way further down her body, placing kisses as he went.

She could get lost in him forever, so she did. He made her scream at the top of her lungs as he repeatedly showed her just how rough he could really be. She loved every delicious minute of it.

* * *

They lay tangled up in between the sheets, as he lazily stroked her back with his thumb. She felt completely content wrapped up in his strong arms; as she nuzzled her head in his chest, trying to fall asleep. The truth was, she was still on a little bit of a high from all the sex that they had engaged in for the evening.

Her throat felt all scratchy and she realized that she would be needing a drink. She lifted her head up to look at him and found his eyes were closed. But his fingers were still tracing patterns into her back, telling her that he was in fact still awake.

She leaned up and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, before she crawled out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Damon mumbled sleepily, his arm falling down on the bed.

She smiled at his adorable sleepy state. "I'm just going to get a glass of water."

"Don't be silly, I'll get it for you," Damon weakly protested, even though he made no move to get up. Her vampire was totally exhausted. How cute.

"Go to sleep, I'll be back in about five minutes."

Elena found his robe hanging off the back of his bathroom door and grabbed it before wrapping it securely around her body. She snuggled up into it, inhaling his scent on the fabric. She padded down the stairs carefully, trying to make as little of noise as possible.

She made her way to the kitchen, searching the cupboards for a glass to put her water in.

"Top farthest cupboard on the left," A male voice that she recognized came from behind her.

She turned around surprised, but calmed only slightly when she confirmed that it was Stefan. She let out a relieved breath, as she went to the cupboard he told her to and came up with a glass.

"Thanks a lot," she said, making her way to the tap to fill her glass of water. She tightened her robe, feeling slightly uncomfortable in his the presence of her ex-boyfriend.

"Elena, can I talk to you about something?" Stefan asked her uncomfortably, switching his feet from side to side.

"Yeah, sure. You can talk to me about anything."

"I found out something about your birth mother that I thought you should know." Elena was shocked that he had even found out about her birth mother, she had only told Damon. Stefan must have read the surprise in her face because his next words were an explanation. "Damon texted me and asked me to find out more about it while you guys were away visiting her friend. Anyways, I talked to Alaric, and he told me that his wife is dead; and as I found out also from Damon that your birth mother is also dead and that her name was Isobel. I figured that they were the same person."

"What's your point in all of this Stefan?" Elena asked him. She was really tired and she really didn't need a recap of her mentally exhausting day.

"Isobel didn't die of natural causes. She was murdered."

Elena let out an audible gasp at his admission, he started to shift more awkwardly and she assumed that he had more to say. "Murdered? By who?"

"Damon. He drained her body of her blood, and her body was never found afterwards."

This was the most shocking thing she had heard in the past week. This seemed to ultimately break her as she sunk to the floor. Elena brought her knees to her chest as she rocked herself back and forth on the floor. The sobs that were coming out her throat seemed almost animal like. She couldn't seem to control them.

She barely registered it when Stefan sank down on the floor beside her. Their backs were pressed against the counters, as she rested her forehead against Stefan's shoulder. He let her cry against his shoulder, the sobs seemed to finish wrecking havoc on her body as they slowly subsided.

She was grateful for the fact that Stefan said absolutely nothing to her, she just needed to be left alone.

Damon had killed her birth mother. The woman that gave life to her was gone and all because of Damon. The thought registered in the back of her mind that they hadn't known each other back then so how could he have known that they would be related in the future.

But she was still so furiously mad at him, that if she saw him, she'd probably just want to throttle his throat.

As if she had summoned him through her thoughts he came walking down the stairs. Probably wondering why she had been gone so long. She watched his facial expression change to one of anger as he took in the scene before him. His eyes seemed to soften dramatically at her tear stained face.

She pushed herself off the ground, going over to stand in front of him. He was probably expecting her to jump into his arms so that he could comfort her and make it all okay.

"Elena... what is it?" Damon asked her softly, he reached out to stroke her cheek with his thumb.

She pulled away before it could touch her skin. It hurt to look at him, to touch him right now. His face turned to one of hurt as she rejected him.

She seemed to get her courage back as she stood tall, her hands fisting at her sides.

"Were you ever going to tell me that you killed my birth mother?" Elena all but screeched in his face.

She watched as his eyes widened at her words, as he took in what she had said to him. He had a sad look on his face but she couldn't bring herself to feel any sympathy for him. She did the last thing any of them expected her to do and slapped him right across the face. All the hurt and sadness radiating into that one blow.

Then the world seemed to fade into black.

* * *

**Another chapter done! I can guarantee you that I don't see this story going anymore than 15-16 chapters! But we'll see how it all goes.**

**I came up with an idea for a new story, which I've started writing, but I won't be posted for awhile. I'm going to save it for when I'm in school and really can't update that often! So you'll have to wait another month or so before I decided to start publishing it. Most likely after one or even both the stories I have going on are finally finished being written.**

**I'm rambling aren't I?**

**I hope you like the chapter, and the cliffhanger ;)**

**Reviews make me happy! :)**


	9. Broken

Elena woke up with a start, sitting up rapidly in the bed she was currently laying in. Her hands immediately went to her throat, feeling for any bite marks, when she felt there was none she calmed down slightly. Then all of a sudden memories came flooding back from the seconds before she blacked out.

_"Were you ever going to tell me you killed my birth mother?"_

Oh right, damn. She wasn't expecting this to happen, this is the last thing she thought Stefan would tell her. Why couldn't something be normal in her life for once?

Ugh, her head hurt. Did she fall down or something and hit her head? Her hand went to her head, rubbing it softly. She groaned before looking across the room and her eyes settled on a figure leaning against the door frame. She recognized Damon, but for once she didn't feel the familiar warmth that his presence usually held for her. She felt betrayed by him, but she couldn't seem to fully hate him. She knew that she'd never be able too.

"Are you okay?" Damon's worried voice finally spoke as he stepped away from the door frame, walking towards the bed as he took a seat down beside her.

"Not really, no." She backed up from him slightly, wrapping her arms around her legs, hugging herself tightly. "How could you keep this from me?"

"I wasn't even sure it was me, that's why I didn't tell you. I was hoping that maybe it would be a coincidence... that it wasn't possible that this could actually happen," Damon explained, softly, putting his head in his hands. "You have to know that I'd never purposely cause you this much pain."

"But you could have told me... I would have understood if you had just talked to me about it, even if you weren't sure." Elena daringly grabbed his hands off his face, getting him to look her in the eye. "We're in a relationship now, don't you get that?"

"How exactly am I supposed to tell you that I may have possibly been the one to kill your mother? How do you tell a person that?" Damon asked her, breathlessly, searching for the right words. "I can't be the one to break your heart, Elena. I promised myself that I'd never do that to you."

Her heart swelled at his words, and she knew that he must have been battling through this for a long time on whether or not to tell her. But that didn't change the fact that he didn't feel like he trusted her, it was like Stefan all over again. She couldn't go through that again with Damon, she just couldn't.

"You know why I broke up with Stefan, because he lied to me... he kept secrets from me that I deserved to know," Elena paused before hitting her point home. "You knew all of that, what I wanted, what I needed to know. You know all I ask from you is that you're honest with me, no matter what. But this, how could you keep this from me? I had a right to know."

"Elena, I never meant to hurt you, I just didn't know how to tell you," Damon whispered, moving closer to her on the bed, taking her hands in each of his.

She looked into his amazingly deep blue eyes, that she just wanted to get lost into forever instead of having this dreaded conversation. "I believe that, Damon, I do. I know you never meant to hurt me, but the point is that you still did. We can't undo this."

"I know we can't," Damon said defeated, "I'm just hoping that someday you'll be able to forgive me."

"What's the truth, Damon? Tell me now, what happened?" Elena asked him, pulling her hands from his.

"If you want to know, I'll tell you everything," Damon's voice was pleading and begging her to let him in. "Please, just give me a chance to explain."

"Why did you kill her?" Elena asked in a small voice that she barely recognized as her own.

"She asked me too." Elena's eyes widened at his confession. Her mother had wanted to die, she didn't want to live anymore. What was she supposed to do with that information? "She wanted me to turn her."

Whoa, hold up there a minute. Isobel wasn't dead, she was a vampire. The supernatural never seemed to end did it? She couldn't get away from it, not even in her own family. Her heart stopped in her chest when she realized that this was her destiny, she was doomed into the life of the supernatural. Well, that was slightly depressing.

"You turned her?"

"Yes, she asked me too. I was bored, it happened," Damon explained with a shrug of his shoulders. She gaped at his indifferent attitude to all of it. "I haven't seen her since the night I turned her."

"Why did she ask you to turn her?" Elena asked softly, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"She knew all about vampires. It was overwhelming the information she knew about me, so much that she seeked me out. She wasn't just another blood bag I was using for the night, she searched me out," Damon explained, and she was surprised at the information he was willing to give her. He was being so open and honest with her, and she almost didn't know how to react. "She intrigued me though. For coming into contact with a vampire she showed me no weakness. She wasn't the least bit afraid of me and it all made sense once she told me what she wanted from me."

"How did she know about you? About vampires?"

"She researched them, she did something for a university, it was sad really," Damon explained, softly. "She also knew a lot about Katherine, I think that's what intrigued me the most about her. I thought that made she'd have some information about Katherine."

"Did she?" Elena asked, seeing his body stiffen at her question.

"If she did she never said anything about it. She wouldn't talk about it with me, even after I tried to... provoke it out of her," Damon eyed her, carefully.

"Provoke it out of her?" The possibilites of what he must have done to her, either threaten her with bodily harm or sex. Oh please, don't let it be sex. That would probably be the tipping point.

"Yes, Elena, I had sex with her. But I didn't know you at the time, so you can't really hold it against me."

"Damon, you had sex with my mother? Do you really have no boundary line?" Elena asked, her voice raising slightly. "God, do you just sleep with anything that has legs?"

"Elena, all this happened before I ever met you, I didn't even know you existed. This is not fair, I didn't intentionally hurt you for god sakes," Damon voice raised to match hers. "Please, can we just get past this and move on?"

"No, we can't just move on, that's a lot to take in," Elena finally squeaked out after what seemed like minutes. Damon was staring at her intently, awaiting her reaction. "I really just think I need some time to you know... figure out what's going on."

"What are you saying?" Damon asked her, his eyes boring into hers almost causing her to change her mind, but she couldn't let herself be lost inside of them. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"I don't really know if I am," Elena said, and Damon's face fell at her words. She reached up and rested a comforting hand on his cheek. "This is just a lot for me to deal with, and being with the person that caused the problem in the first place really isn't that good."

"But I want to help you," Damon begged her, softly. "I really am sorry."

"So am I. But I really can't be with you right now." Elena started, heading into a very long speech. "You mean the world to me, you'll never understand that, but right now I just need some time to myself. Can you please just understand that I need time?"

She placed a finger on his lips as he opened his mouth to say something. "Please, just let me finish. I'm not breaking up with you, were just going on a break. It could be a very long one, or a very short one. I don't really know yet, I just need some time."

Damon nodded. "Okay, fine. I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"Thank you," Elena whispered, and removed herself from his grasp, getting off the bed. She was halfway to the door when she turned around and met his fallen gaze. He was staring at her fleeing body, with the most hurtful expression she'd ever seen cross his face. She desperately wanted to go over there and just make all his worries go away and tell him that they would get through this.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She gave him a small goodbye smile and a sympathetic wave before walking the rest of the way out of the room.

She was willing herself not to cry. She would be strong about this. After all it was all her fault that this was happening. She didn't deserve the right to breakdown. She heard a glass smash and shatter against a wall and that's what finally set the waterfall into motion.

Her hand cupped over her mouth to try and stop the sobs from being released from her throat. She had made it out the front door, before she collapsed in the grass. Her knees hitting hard on the ground, as the sobs racked through her body. Her vision got blurry as the tears clouded her eyes, pouring down her cheeks. She felt the world come crashing down around her. She thought Damon would be the one to last, that they could make it through anything. But she wasn't sure they could make it through this. This was too much to bare.

She got control of herself after what seemed like ages, pulling herself up from the ground. She raced to her car, pulling the door open hastily, clambering inside, gripping tightly on the steering wheel as she willed herself to drive away from his house. She really couldn't be here anymore, she felt her heart breaking as she drove further and further away from him.

It had felt like days before she pulled into her driveway, the tears still sliding down her face. She pulled open the door, rushing up to the front door of her house. She was just stumbling through the door and up the stairs to her room, before she ran into Jenna.

Jenna took one look and her face before pulling her into her arms, providing her the comfort she needed as she sobbed into the hair at her neck. She let her Aunt drag her up to her room, where she wrapped the blankets around Elena in a cocoon, as they hugged each other tightly.

* * *

Once the sobs had settled down, Jenna took the opportunity to finally question Elena as to what was wrong. She really didn't want to talk about it, but she knew that Jenna wouldn't let it go until she had all the answers that she wanted and had effectively cured the problem. She was both hating and loving that Jenna cared so much about it. It hurt her that she wasn't able to tell her the whole truth, when she so desperately wanted too. She wanted to tell somebody about everything that was supernatural and finally have someone to talk to about it all. But she didn't want to ruin Jenna's life like that when she had already sacrificed so much to take care of them.

She just couldn't hurt her aunt like that, no matter how much it hurt to not tell the truth.

"So, what's wrong? It's about a boy isn't it?" Jenna asked her, and sighed when Elena nodded. "It's always about a boy. Damn them, they're all heartbreakers."

"I didn't break up with him exactly, but I told him I needed some space. I needed some time alone. So we're kind of on a break, but everybody knows that those don't end well," Elena sniffed, grabbing the tissue that Jenna offered her to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, honey, let's start at the beginning. What did he do?" Jenna asked her, rubbing Elena's back in a comforting gesture.

How could she come up with a suitable lie that would make sense for her heartbreak? He cheated on her? No, that was too much. She could just say that he had lied to her about something important. But what did he lie to her about? Damn it, she hadn't thought this through at all.

"He lied about going to see an ex girlfriend," Elena blurted out before she had even realized the words had fallen out of her lips. "So it's not break up worthy, but I can't just forgive him and forget you know? So I'm just stuck in this place with no idea what to do."

"Honey, going to see an ex girlfriend is hardly something to get in a break up over," Jenna tried to reason, but how could she tell her that she was wrong. Because it was actually about so much more. "Maybe you should give him a second chance?"

"It's the fact that he lied to me... he knows that I hate it when people do that. It's part of the reason why I broke up with Stefan, and the fact that I didn't want to be with him anymore," Elena explained, her hands picking at the thread on the blanket wrapped around her. "Damon knew that, he knew what caused Stefan and I to break up and he goes and does the same thing."

"Sounds like it runs in the family," Jenna joked, earning a small laugh to come from Elena.

Elena nodded. "I guess it does. I wish I could just have a normal relationship, with no drama."

"Oh sweetheart, you'll learn that with men you never have no drama, they always do something wrong. Then of course, we always have to tell them how they can pick up the pieces."

"Why can't they just figure it out themselves?" Elena scoffed.

"Because they're men; and men are stupid, and idiotic." Jenna explained, softly. "But what would we do without them?"

"I guess you're right," Elena compromised. "Thanks for talking to me, Jenna, you're doing great you know, with me and Jeremy."

"I'm trying my best," Jenna said, removing herself from Elena's bed, giving her a smile before walking out of her room. "I'll bring you up some food in awhile so that you don't starve."

"You're the best," Elena said smiling, before curling up in her blankets, shutting out the rest of the world. She briefly heard her cell phone going off in her purse but she didn't have the energy to remove herself from her bed.

* * *

She hadn't showered in days, she was on the brinking point of disgusting. She'd topple over the edge any second, but her comforter closed in the offending smell. She'd only moved to eat, and although she didn't eat much, she still ate. She tried to not think of Damon, but it almost seemed impossible, without having anything to keep her mind off of it. Caroline and Bonnie had tried to get her out of her funk, but it never worked. She was cold and detached, she barely spoke to anyone.

Her solitary confinement was ruined as she heard a knock at her window, she pushed the sheets off her head to see who it was. She saw Damon and groaned before crawling back under her covers.

Of course, Damon had no boundaries and let himself in.

"You've been ignoring my calls," Damon announced. No hello, no how are you, no greeting of any kind.

"Maybe you should have taken the message then," Elena mumbled, and she suddenly felt the comforter being ripped from her hands. "No, no, no, what are you doing? Leave me alone."

"God, you smell. When was the last time you took a shower?" Damon asked her, backing away from her slightly.

Elena tugged the comforter back over her head. "Did you just come over here to insult me? Because I already feel like shit, so you can just leave."

"Okay, look, I'm not here to torture you, even though you're making it extremely easy."

"Then why are you here?" Elena asked bitterly.

"Have you seen Stefan lately?" What? Why would Stefan come here?

"Um, no. Why would I have seen Stefan?" Elena asked, lifting the comforter so that she could look at his face. She could see the worry etched into his beautiful face, and for once she realized that he was barely holding it together either. He was using this cold and detached attitude to conceal it, just like she was doing. They really were two sides of the same coin.

"He's been missing. He went out to hunt, but I haven't seen him in hours. I thought he might have come here, but he's clearly not," Damon explained, the frown lines on his face deepening. "I think something happened to him."

Elena sat up suddenly. "Did you check the woods already?"

Damon rolled his eyes at her, causing her to scoff. "Of course, I checked the woods already, I'm not an idiot."

"Stop being such a sarcastic ass," Elena warned him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What about the tomb vampires?"

"You think they would have kidnapped him?" Damon asked her, thoughtfully. "It would make sense, they do want revenge on us for getting them locked in the tomb for over a century."

"Then why don't you go rescue him." Elena pulled the comforter back over her face, burying her face in her pillow.

"I'm going into a house filled with over 20 vampires, do you even care?" Damon's small voice lulled her out of her funk.

Of course she cared. How could he think that she didn't care? She worried for him, she always been worried for him. She wanted to go back into his waiting arms, just to never fell like this again, but the fact was that she just couldn't. But for him to think that she didn't care about what happens to him? How could he possibly think that?

"You think I don't care? Of course I care. All I do is care, about you, about everybody." Elena said, anger dripping in her voice. "I've been worried about you for the past 3 days, and it's tearing me apart to not know how you're doing. Don't you realize that? Do you seriously think I'm okay right now? Look at me."

Time passed so slowly that she thought they were frozen in time, letting her words sink in. He just stared at her, open mouthed, truly shocked by her speech. She stared at him, watching his reaction warily. A range of emotions seemed to flick across his face before he could finally speak what was on his mind. "I've been worried about you too, and with good reason."

His hand motioned to her current appearance state. "Lena, do me favor please, and take a shower. Be you again."

"If you promise me you'll come back safe," Elena whispered softly, her hands tangling with each other, playing with them nervously.

"You know I can't promise you that, but I'll do my best," Damon said, he walked over to the bed and she was stuck frozen in place. She didn't move closer to him, but she didn't back away from him. Once he reached her, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Take a shower, please."

And then he was gone.

She groaned before finally pulling herself from her bed, she grudgingly made her way to the bathroom. She grabbed her towel on the way there, she would finally get in the shower. Only because she really needed to, not because Damon had wanted her to. That's what she kept telling herself anyway.

She got in the shower and washed all the bad, and terribleness that had been happening in her life over the past few days. When she'd finally finished, she grabbed some clean clothes. She decided that she wanted to go wait for Damon, she needed to know that he'd come home okay.

She couldn't stand it if anything had happened to him, so she made her way out to her car, passing by Jenna on the way who looked at her dumbfounded. She gave her a small wave, surprised that Jenna never asked her where she was going. She supposed that was because she was just happy to see me out of the house.

* * *

She had waited for Damon for what seemed like hours. She could hear the rain falling down heavily, out of the window. She was so worried for him, as she stared outside at the rain. Somehow, watching the rain, it seemed to soothe her, and she wasn't sure why. But something told her that Damon would come home safe, but that didn't make her worry any less. Eventually after waiting for so long, exhaustion had gotten the best of her, and she'd crawled into Damon's bed, falling asleep surrounded by his wonderful scent.

She was woken up by the sound of banging going on downstairs, she climbed out of Damon's bed and followed the noise. It lead her downstairs and into the living room, where Damon was struggling to walk through the house. She saw the blood on him immediately, and her face fell taking in his entire appearance. He was beaten, bruised, and broken. She then saw that Stefan was struggling behind him, but he managed to make it up the stairs to his room.

She ran up to Damon, her hands going to his face, inspecting it. She identified tons of scratches and bruises all covered in his blood, and her heart was shattering inside her chest seeing him so broken. She saw him wince at her touch, and she loosened her grip.

"Elena," he mumbled out, his face turning to one of pure relief at her presence.

"I've been so worried about you," Elena whispered, her hand stroking over the scratch on his cheek. "Thank god, you're alright."

"Baby, I'm okay," Damon whispered, but she could tell that he was fading fast, and wrapped her arms around him, trying to be as gentle as possible. He collapsed into her, causing her to almost fall onto the floor, but she caught herself at the last moment. She guided him up the stairs and into his room, setting him carefully on the bed.

She removed unbuttoned his shirt, inspecting his chest delicately. She saw little bullets of wood stuck in his body and her heart broke for him. He looked so broken and lonely, how could she ever leave him? She quickly ran into the bathroom grabbing a wet cloth, before applying it to his body. He groaned and whined, as she wiped the stained blood away from his body.

"God, Damon, what happened to you?" Elena whispered, choking back the tears at the sight of his mangled body.

"Take the bullets out," Damon mumbled, his head falling in between her breasts. "Lena, Please."

Her defenses were shot down the moment he used "Lena" in such a pleading way. So, she sunk her fingers into his hair, massaged his scalp gently with her fingers. He responded by nuzzling his head into her body, and she loved the way he took comfort in her. "Okay. Okay, shhh, lift your head up for me."

He lifted his head up so that she could work on getting the bullets out. He would wince slightly when she took out one, mostly because she was digging around in his flesh, which she could only imagine would have been uncomfortable. She felt his gaze on her face as she worked to clean up his body, but she tried not to act like she noticed his obvious staring. It didn't take her long to get all the bullets out of him, as she took the wash cloth and again cleaned up the blood on his body.

His wounds healed before her eyes, and she finally felt her worry start to fade once he was back in one piece. He still seemed kind of out of it and after hesitating slightly, she placed her wrist against his mouth. "Take it, you need it."

He shook his head against her wrist, his lips brushing against her skin. "No, I can't do that."

"Damon, you need blood. Just drink it please," Elena pressed.

"I'll just go get myself a blood bag." He proceeded to try and stand up, but he was still too weak to move and fell back down on his bed again. He looked so defeated that he couldn't get his way.

Elena shook her head in silent laughter. "You're not going anywhere. Drink up."

"Your first experience with this was supposed to be pleasurable, I don't want to make you hate it," Damon explained, shoving her wrist away.

"What if you make it pleasurable?" Elena asked him in a small voice, and she noticed that he seemed to be considering it.

He contemplated for a few more minutes. "Sit on me."

She took a seat on his lap, her arms wrapping loosely around his neck. He wrapped an arm around her waist, dragging her a bit closer to him. She gasped slightly as his mouth went to her neck, placing soft kisses on her skin. He was working her up in the best kind of way, and he did it even better as his hand sneaked its way into the front of her jeans.

Her breath caught in her throat as his finger started to flick against her clit, going at a fast pace that set her skin on fire. She felt Damon's fangs brush against her skin, causing her to let out a little moan. As soon as he plunged his fangs into her neck, he did the same with his fingers.

She almost came undone right there, letting out a loud pleasurable moan that she'd never thought possible to come out of her mouth. She leaned into him, running her fingers through his hair. His fangs felt deliciously good, and she felt the pull of the blood coming out of her skin. His fingers went faster inside of her, causing her to hurtle over the edge of an orgasm.

She was almost there, just a few more pulls and she'd be there. So when she felt the familiar pulsating flow through her body as an orgasm rushed through her, causing her to rock her hips gently into his fingers. She let out a loud moan, throwing her head back.

He pulled his fangs out of her neck, soothing the spot with his tongue.

She slumped in his arms, completely sated. He slowly ran his hand up and down her back to slowly take her out of her post orgasmic state. She scrambled suddenly out of his lap, adjusting her clothes.

"We shouldn't have done that," Elena said, running a hand through her hair. "We're supposed to be on a break."

"I've had enough of this on a break stuff, Lena," Damon said, grabbing her hand to pull her back to him. "I want you back, I want you with me, all the time. Not waking up with you next to me was hell, not seeing your face everyday sucks, I'll never be so stupid again."

She wiped a lone tear that had fallen down her cheek, "I can't do that yet, I'm not ready."

"What about what just happened here tonight?"

"Tonight, I was worried about you. I wanted to help you, and now that I did, I should probably go," Elena said, drawing her hand away from his to leave.

His voice called her back though, and she turned around slowly. "Can you stay with me tonight, please?"

"Damon... I really don't think that's a good idea," Elena whispered softly. "Please don't make this harder than it already is."

He stood up slowly, his hand immediately going to his side as he moaned in pain. She went over to him slowly, so that he didn't have to walk anymore. "I need you, here."

She contemplated it, as she saw the pain in his eyes at having her leave him. She didn't want to be the one to cause that pain again, and truth be told she needed him too. She had missed him for the past few days, and it was that thought that had caused her to give in.

"Fine... I'll stay the night," Elena agreed, and she guided him back to the bed, then she pulled back the covers so he could crawl in.

"Can you take the rest of my clothes off please," Damon whined, sitting up in the bed.

"Damon... don't push your luck," Elena said, pushing him to lay down on the bed.

Damon shook his head, tugging at his clothes. "No, not like that. I can't get them off by myself."

"Okay, okay." Elena surrendered, sliding his shirt off his shoulders, before leaning down and fingering the button of his pants until they came undone. She pulled them down his legs, throwing them on the floor. She left his boxers on, because she didn't think she could handle a naked Damon right had expected some witty comment about his nakedness, but nothing happened and for that she was grateful.

She helped him get the rest of the way into bed, before removing her shoes and sliding in next to him. He didn't touch her which she was grateful for, because that's all she'd need for him to knock all the walls she put up to come crashing down. She wanted so badly to wrap him up in her arms and she almost did, but she willed herself not to.

"I'm glad you're staying," Damon whispered, turning his head to face her.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," Elena whispered back, turning on her side to study his face as his eye lids slowly closed as he fell into a deep sleep. She studied his face, noticing that all the bumps, scratches and bruises had all healed and she was once again staring at the beautiful man she'd come to know. She would never be able to get over how adorable he always looked while he slept, like a little child.

She smiled, before leaning over and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. They were no means okay, but she felt good being here tonight, in his warm and comfy bed, curled up next to him. She realized that if she'd have to be in one place forever, with one person, it would be here and with him.

She'd love him forever, even if he didn't reciprocate.

Maybe she'd be ready to forgive him sooner than she'd originally thought.


	10. Fix Me

**This update is long overdue. But, I got busy with work. It was crazy!**

**I know this is short, only like 3,000 words. But I needed to get this out, and hopefully I'll have another chapter up before school starts! Hopefully! :) But only hopefully, because I'm trying to update my other story as well, because it's not getting as much love. Well, I hope you enjoy the chapter even how short it is.**

* * *

When morning came, and Elena knew she would be forced to deal with the state of their relationship. That thought saddened her deeply, she really didn't want have to think about where they stood. But for now, she would just stay curled up on Damon's bed watching him peacefully sleep beside her. She was stunned at how beautiful he looked even after everything that had happened to him the previous night. He looked like an angel, and by now all the bruises and cuts were healed on his body, leaving it flawless once again. He would be good as new and would no longer need her anymore. That saddened her slightly, because it had felt good that he had needed her tonight instead of her always leaning on him.

She couldn't help wondering what had happened to both Damon and Stefan. How bad were the other vampires? She needed to know the story, and to be quite honest it was the reason she had stayed until morning. She knew it was selfish, but she couldn't help it. She had a curiosity problem.

Damon started to stir in his sleep, and he opened those beautiful blue eyes and focused right on her. He looked surprised to see her there beside him, and blinked a couple of times. He decided to give her a lazy smile which she returned softly.

"I'm surprised you're still here," Damon mumbled sleepily.

"So am I," she replied, and it was the truth; she really hadn't expected to be here when he woke up in the morning. "But here I am."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Damon said, reaching over to grab her hand. "Thanks for last night. You know... taking care of me. You really didn't have to do that."

She gripped his hand tightly in hers. "We may be in a fight right now, but I'll always be here to take care of you. No matter what happens."

"Elena... you'll never understand how sorry I am for that," Damon apologized, but she just shook her head, not wanting him to go on. However, he didn't listen to her and continued on. "No, listen. You have to know that if I had known you, if I had met you, I never would have done what I did. You mean so much to me."

She nodded her head, choking back the tears that were threatening to spill over her eyes at his thoughtful words. She needed to get out of this topic, she really didn't want to talk about this now.

"Do you need anything? Maybe a blood bag? Coffee?" She asked, safely changing the topic.

Fortunately for her, he didn't seem to be offended by the change in topic.

"You don't have to get me anything. I'm all healed now, I can do things for myself," Damon said, sitting up in bed, dropping her hand as he changed positions.

"No, you stay here," Elena argued, jumping up from the bed. "You're still the damsel in distress. I'm still in charge of taking care of you."

Damon rolled his eyes dramatically. "I'm not a damsel in distress. You're over exaggerating."

"Right now, you are," Elena reminded him; he opened his mouth to speak but she shut him up before he could get any words out. "Nope, you're not arguing your way out of this. Just accept it, and let me do something for you. For once. Please."

Knowing he couldn't resist her doe eyes, she used them to her full advantage. Her smile lit up like no other when he finally nodded in agreement, making her feel an empowerment like no other at putting Damon Salvatore in his place.

"You win. This time," he mumbled.

"Don't move," she warned before running out of the room, throwing him a look over her shoulder on the way out. She saw him roll his eyes once more, before walking fully out of the room.

* * *

She made her way down the stairs, but as she did there was a grunting sound coming from behind Stefan's door. A terrible thought entered her mind, because she didn't even think about Stefan in all the events of last night. Damn it, she was a horrible person. She decided to see if he was doing okay, because she felt incredibly bad about the whole thing. She shouldn't put all her attention on Damon, and forget about the other people in her life.

Elena knocked on his door, before opening it up and sticking her head inside.

"Stefan? Are you okay?" She asked him, as she saw him trying to get some bullets out of his back. She gasped at the sight before walking more into the room to get a better look at his wounds. "Stefan! You should have told me! I would have got them out for you."

"You were upstairs. With Damon," Stefan said offhandedly, in a way of explanation. "I didn't want to bother you."

"That's a dumb excuse," she said examining his back carefully, knocking his hands out of the way. "You can't get these out by yourself."

"You don't have to do that..." Stefan weakly protested, but she ignored him and grabbed the tweezers out of his hands.

She started working on his back, pulling out the bullets one by one. They were soaked with his blood, and as she put them in her hand they had a slick, slimy feel to them. He made several sounds of pain as she removed the bullets from his back, and she tried to ignore him the best she could afraid that his pain would distract her from the task at hand.

Once she had finished getting rid of all the bullets, she walked into the bathroom that connected to his room and dumped them in a garbage can by the sink She gave her hands a much needed wash, getting rid of all the blood on her hands.

"Good as new," Elena announced as she made her way back to him.

"Thanks, you really didn't have to do that you know."

"It's really okay... but I should get back," she said, gesturing her thumbs over her shoulders as she slowly backed out of the room. She turned around as she entered the doorway, running her hand through her tosselled, and very obviously slept on hair.

"Elena..." Stefan's voice called her back. She turned back around only to find Stefan standing right in front of her. She opened her eyes wide at his intrusion of her personal space, taking a small step back from his intimidating presence. His eyes were wide with hunger, and she reared back again. As she stepped backwards, she felt her back hit the wall just beside the door. He had her trapped, and scared, which was exactly his intention.

"Are you on human blood again?" Elena squeaked weakly, her eyes wide with fear.

She was desperately looking for a way out of this situation, but she came up empty like she had suspected she would. She was secretly hoping and praying that Damon was able to hear them, even in there hushed voices, because he was her only chance of getting out of this situation. If not that the first option, she was hoping that Damon would come looking for her when she didn't bring the blood bags back to him and save her.

Either one would really do, she couldn't be too picky after all.

"I need it Elena," Stefan said being her out of her terrifying thoughts, and she saw the veins appear under his eyes.

She shook her head. "Stefan, you don't have to do this. You are better than this." She brought her hands up to his face, locking her eyes with his. "You're stronger than this. I know you are... please Stefan, listen to me, and just breathe."

"I can't, Elena, I have to," Stefan said, his fangs elongated and she reared back once again.

However she had no where to go and found herself cowering back into the wall, closing her eyes as she expected the pain to come. When she felt him hesitate in his attack, she opened her eyes up to look at him. His eyes were no longer the green she'd been accustomed to, but black and lifeless. This was different for her, because she'd never been able to picture Stefan as a monster. She'd never seen this side of him, like she'd seen Damon's. She didn't know what to expect from this side of Stefan and it wasn't something she wanted to experience any time soon.

But unfortunately looking up into his eyes was the wrong thing to do, because as soon as her eyes met his, he seemed to be brought back to the present and snapped his fangs at her face, in a cocky gesture that was so unlike him. It showed her just what he could do to her, and the thought scared her immensely.

His head suddenly went to her neck, moving at a speed way faster than she expected. She let out a blood curling scream that I'm sure the entire neighborhood would have heard, as he lunged for her neck. She felt his fangs piercing into her neck suddenly, breaking into the skin.

But fortunately for her it didn't last for long, as Stefan was suddenly ripped away from her body. She fell to the floor clutching her neck to stop it from bleeding out. It hurt like hell, but the pain seemed to fade into the back of her mind as she looked up and saw that Damon had Stefan pressed up against the wall.

Stefan's mouth was dripping with her blood, and his vampire face was still visual. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help but notice the way Damon's muscles rippled in his back as he used his strength to hold Stefan against the wall. He had neglected a shirt on his way to get to her rescue, and she couldn't say that she complained one bit.

Damn it, Elena. _Focus_ on the scene.

She saw a vervain dart clasped in Damon's right hand, and she gasped as he plunged it into his brother's neck to get him to come down from his high. Once he was knocked out, Damon picked him up throwing him over his back and used his vampire speed to get him out of the room quickly.

Elena was shell shocked to say the least, as she clutched her neck, trying to keep some of the blood inside her body. She slowly stood up, walking into Stefan's bathroom. She searched the cupboards for a washcloth to clean herself up. She finally found one, and ran it under the water before dabbing it against her neck. She let out a sigh as she examined her wound, she could see the puncture marks from his fangs. She winced slightly as she ran the cloth over her wound, cleaning it carefully.

She felt somebody pull her hair to the side, and her head snapped up to look into the mirror. She was met with Damon's worried face, and she tried to smile at him in encouragement that she was in fact okay and wouldn't break down at any moment.

He grabbed the washcloth out of her hand and started cleaning her wound for her. He said nothing as he worked on getting her cleaned up. To be honest, she was just trying to not fall apart and cry. Seriously! she needed to get a grip on her tear ducts.

"Is Stefan going to be okay?" Elena whispered to him, turning around to face him fully.

He nodded his head. "He's knocked unconscious right now. But his craving for blood, needs to be taken care of. He really needs to learn how to control it." He paused, seeming to be deep in thought. "I have to help him. This time has to be different, I can't risk something happening to you again."

"I'm fine, Damon." She grabbed his hand, keeping it locked tightly in both of hers. "They'll heal soon, and you won't even notice them."

Damon sighed, squeezing her hand. "I should have known, I shouldn't have let you go."

She didn't say anything for several long moments, but she watched the emotions on his face intently. She could see the internal dilemma forming in his eyes, and she realized that he thought this was all his fault. But she knew that he wasn't to blame for the events that had happened here, she should have known. It was really her fault. All her _fault._

"I'm sorry," Elena apologized, staring up at him with sad eyes. "I was just trying to help. I didn't know."

"Elena, it's not your fault," Damon reassured her, reaching up to cup her cheek softly. "It's your good nature's fault. You can't seem to just leave people's problems alone."

She chuckled softly, bringing the light back into her eyes. "It's who I am."

"I wouldn't want you to change." Damon smiled, "You're perfect just the way you are."

"Thanks for saving me..." Elena said, taking a chance and wrapping her arms around his waist. She felt him reciprocate the action, and she added. "Again."

He chuckled, placing a kiss on her forehead as he squeezed her body.

They didn't know how long they stayed there like that, comforting each other in the only way they knew how. They didn't need words in his moment, and as she nuzzled her face in his bare chest she somehow knew that all between them was forgiven. She felt safe in his arms and realized that there was no place that she'd rather be. But somehow, the words needed to be spoken out loud.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened, for being so mad at you. All of it," she mumbled against his chest, her hands rubbing into the skin of his back. "I'm so sorry."

She felt his nod against her head that was rested on top of hers. "Shhh, Elena it's okay. You had every reason to be mad."

"How's your neck?" Damon asked her, bringing her head up so that he could look at her.

She nodded. "It's fine."

"Take my blood. It will heal you faster." He bit into his wrist and held it up to her mouth. She didn't hesitate and wrapped her small hands around his arm bringing it to her mouth. She latched her mouth onto the bite, sucking it out of his arm. She heard his small moan as she pulled the blood from his body.

He eventually ripped her mouth away from his arm, as he went to inspect her neck. It was now all healed and good as new. She smiled at him, still drunk on her high from his blood. He leaned down to press a kiss to her blood stained lips, successfully cleaning her mouth with his talented tongue.

She returned the kiss, pressing herself closer to his body. His hands threaded themselves into her hair, as he angled her mouth to his preference. She let him take control of the kiss. God, she had missed being able to kiss him. One day was too long without having his delicious lips pressed against hers.

He pulled away after several long minutes of indulging themselves in a perfect make-up kiss. She gave him a lazy smile, before placing one last final kiss on his lips.

"You deal with your brother today," Elena suggested, her lips just mere inches away from his. "And I'll see you at the founder's party tonight."

Damon pouted. "But I just got you back."

"I can't stay with you all day." Elena whined, before her lips turned up in a smile. "It will all be worth it when I look hot as hell tonight."

"You always look hot as hell," Damon reminded her, placing another kiss on her lips. "But I'll look forward to seeing your hotness."

"Take care of Stefan," Elena ordered him, before backing away from his all too inviting half naked body. As she exited the room, bringing her hand up to her mouth and blowing him a kiss. He did nothing but roll his eyes and smile at her.

Oh, what a night it would be that's for sure.

* * *

**So short I know! And bad, bad, Stefan. But he won't be bad forever, I promise.**

**Leave me reviews, they make my world go round. Oh, and I also apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes because I was in such a rush to get this out, my editing kind of sucked.  
**


	11. Gone

**Another chapter! :) I hope this is okay. Just letting you know that I'm trying to get the rest of these chapters out before September starts! Hopefully that happens! I hope I get it all done in perfect timing considering I don't work a lot next week, so we'll see!**

**Hope this chapter is okay and that you like it!  
**

* * *

Elena made it to the boarding house at precisely 8pm that night so that Damon could take her to the dance. He'd told her to meet him here instead of picking her up, but she didn't really understand why. So, instead of worrying about it she walked right inside the door. No sense in knocking anymore, she practically lived here.

She made her way through the house and up to Damon's room. Which he wasn't in, but she heard the water running in the bathroom. But it wasn't from the shower, what a disappointment. She opened the door to find Damon standing there naked as the day he was born. He was shaving so it clearly wasn't a show for her.

Elena stared dumbly at him, as he was putting shaving cream on his face. There was no hello, or any acknowledgement that she was even standing there in the doorway. She got frustrated pretty quickly with her lack of greeting and dropped her purse on the ground. She kicked the door shut behind her, which caused him to briefly look at her but he made no other move. He turned back to the mirror, picking up his razor.

She let out a huff before crossing the distance between them. She stood behind him in the mirror, and when her eyes flicked up they were meant with his deep blue ones. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face in his back. It seemed all the tension was lost as she felt his muscles relax.

She breathed in his scent coming to the conclusion that he smelled absolutely amazing. Fresh from a shower, his back smelled like old spice soap. Normally the smell wouldn't have been attractive, but on him; damn it smelled good.

She pressed feather light kisses on his back, eliciting a soft sigh to come from Damon's mouth. She smiled against his back. At least she could get some kind of reaction out of him still.

Elena decided to address his sudden mood change. "What's wrong?"

"Tough day with Stefan," Damon's hushed tone, that had an undertone of sadness that she picked up on right away. She squeezed his waist, comfortingly. "I don't know if he's ever going to get better."

"How can I make it better?" Elena asked him, nuzzling her face into his back.

Damon wound his fingers through hers that were still rested on his stomach. "You're doing it."

She smiled again, going back to kissing his back. This time though, her hand softly batted his away, so that it could roam his stomach. She could feel every crease of his abs, and it was a major turn on for her. She slid her hand further down his body, until she got to his erection. She was surprised that he was already hard, but pushed it aside.

She wrapped her hand around him, and he let out a low moan. He quickly finished his attempt at shaving as she slowly stroked him up and down. She would have been offended that he was still shaving while she was trying to pleasure him but he kept letting out sexy moans and bucking his hips into her hand. She decided to keep it slow so that he wouldn't accidently nick himself with the razor. Continuing to place kisses on his back, my other hand that was not working his erection was traveling over his stomach and his chest.

He finally finished shaving and before I knew he had turned around, settling his lips on mine. He knocked the air out of me as he lifted me off the ground, never breaking our lips apart. She felt a cold surface hit her ass, and quickly realized it was the bathroom counter.

So this hadn't been her original plan, she had planned on getting him off. She had working hard on her outfit and didn't want it to get all messed up along with her hair. But she shrugged it off, because he didn't tear off her clothes. He pushed her dress up over her hips but left them there. He pushed her underwear to the side as he guided his erection to her core.

She started placing kisses on his cheeks, neck, and chest. She kissed pretty much every inch of skin that she had access to in her position. He let out a sexy moan and cupped her cheek to lift her lips back up to his. He kissed her so passionately that if she had been standing up she would have become weak in the knees.

"God, Damon," Elena moaned into his mouth, pressing herself closer against him.

He responded by opening his mouth to her, and she reciprocated the action while sinking her tongue into his mouth. He still hadn't moved inside of her and she wasn't complained because it felt really good to just being able to feel him. She'd forgotten the power that a kiss could hold, as he did only that for a good ten minutes. Well, it felt like that anyways.

His hands staying at her hips, caressing them with his fingertips. He finally started moving slowly inside of her, moving his lips down to her exposed neck.

He placed open mouthed kisses along the column of her throat, as he mumbled. "I feel like it's been so long since I've been inside you."

She nodded frantically as her hands went to his still damp hair, combing through it with her fingertips. He started moving his hips faster, and she felt him go deeper inside of her.

It didn't take him long to hurdle into an orgasm, with her right behind him. She clung to his shoulders, burying her face in his shoulder.

They came down from their highs, and she placed kisses on his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the counter and setting her off the floor. She had to use him to keep her balance, and looked up at him with a dazed expression on her face.

"That is the best way to cheer someone up," Damon smirked, lifting his hand up to brush away any loose hairs from her face.

Elena giggled, lifting her head up to place a kiss on his cheek. She then rolled down her skirt so that it settled back over her hips. She turned around to look in the mirror and fix her hair. Surprisingly it wasn't very messy, and she just had to redo her high ponytail, which she'd curled earlier to perfection.

"How about we just stay here and not go to the party?" Damon suggested wrapping his arms around her waist, his lips finding her ear. "You can cheer me up all night."

"You know we can't, it's for all the founding families," Elena replied, cocking her head to the side as she observed him in the mirror. "Carol will just keep calling until we show up."

"We'll turn our phones off," he suggested, biting her ear.

"Get dressed, Damon," Elena ordered him, rolling her eyes. What she didn't expect was for him to run his tongue under along her ear.

"Elena..." he purred in her ear, and she felt him harden against her backside. "I'm so hard, baby, please."

She so wanted to give in. She even closed her eyes for second just getting lost in the feeling of his body pressed against hers. But no, she couldn't.

"Damon, no..." Elena whispered, pushing away from the counter. "We have to go."

She walked into his bedroom, throwing her head over her shoulder to see him pouting. She smiled at him, grabbing a suit from his closet. She tossed it to him as he came out the bedroom.

She could tell that he was still sulking over not getting a second round and hastily threw on his suit. She walked over to him when he put his tie around his neck. She grabbed it from him, and did it herself.

"Don't be a cry baby," Elena said, once she was finished with his tie.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm not being a cry baby. I'm just hard with no way of fixing that because we have to go to this stupid party."

"Are you going to be snarky about this all night?" she asked him, grabbing him by the waist band of his pants and tugging on them to get him closer to her.

"Yes..." he said looking down between their bodies, as she started unbuckling his pants. "I don't like to be left unsatisfied."

What the hell! They were already late anyways? So she took the plunge and pulled his pants down his legs. He started to back up to get to the bed, but she had her hands on his ass in less than ten seconds keeping him firmly where he was. He seemed utterly shocked by her behavior, as a look of wonder crossed his face.

Since she'd never given him oral sex before, she decided to try it out and she got down on her knees, pulling him out of the boxers he was wearing. Once, he realized what she was about to do he let out an "Oh shit!"

She smiled, before taking him into her mouth. His hands gripped her head as soon as her mouth touched his tip. She could tell that he was trying hard not to mess up her hair this time around. She licked around his head, before sucking it into her mouth. This action caused him to let out an animal like growl, and his hips to slightly thrust into her mouth. She held him back with her hands on his thighs, and took more of him in her mouth as a reward for him staying still. By this point, all she heard were a string of curse words coming from Damon's mouth.

She worked him in her mouth, moaning to let him know that she liked it. But she didn't count for the sensations it would send through him and she watched him shudder at the feeling. She decided to up her game and tried to take him entirely into her mouth. She didn't get very far but was okay with it because of Damon's sexy as hell moans he was making. His grip was tightening on her hair, and she could tell that he was getting close.

She moaned around his shaft again, as she worked him faster with her mouth and it worked in sending him into a hard orgasm.

Once they were finished, Damon seemed a little dazed from the post-orgasmic haze, she suspected. She tucked him back into his boxers and then into his pants. She stood up, removing his hands from her head which had stayed there even after he'd finished.

"You're amazing," he finally said, leaning down to kiss her.

She let him kiss her for a few seconds before pulling back, grabbing his hand in hers. "Now you can stop complaining and we can finally go to this party."

Elena started to pull him towards the door, but he stopped her tugging on her hand to pull her back. She rolled her eyes before turning around to face him.

"Yes?"

"Just let me look at you," Damon said, bringing her hand up to twirl her around, getting a full 360 view of her body. "You promised that you'd look hot tonight."

Elena giggled, letting him twirl her around. "So did I deliver on my promise?"

She knew that she most definitely did. She chose this outfit because she knew exactly how much it would drive Damon crazy. It was one of the tightest black dresses that she had ever worn, and it showed off every curve on her body perfectly. She had paired it with a pair of black heels. Now that she thought about it, it would have been nice to use them in the sex that they'd had in the bathroom.

Later, tonight. Save them for tonight.

"You did." He had a big grin on his face as he pulled her back into his arms, which she went willingly into. "And more."

"I'm glad I could appease my wonderful boyfriend," Elena replied, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You're quite handsome yourself, mister."

"I put a lot of effort into his suit." He popped the collar to illustrate his words. She smiled, leaning up to kiss him on the lips. He stopped the kiss briefly to mumble. "Ready for round three?"

"We're actually leaving this time," Elena said sternly, grabbing his tie and pulling him out the door with her. He followed behind her like a little puppy. The thought made her laugh in her mind, but she didn't make the sound out loud thankfully.

* * *

The party was in full swing when we had finally arrived. Damon kept me surprisingly close to him when we entered the party, and to top it off he kept whispering very dirty things into my ear. He definitely wanted to get home that's for sure. But she was determined to at least make it through some of this party. After all, they had gotten there late.

Damon had gotten her out on the dance floor the second they walked through the door. She didn't complain though it gave her an excuse to be as close to him as she wanted. The music wasn't exactly dancing music, but more of just swaying from side to side music.

But that was okay for her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, as he wrapped his securely around her waist. She had never felt safer in someone's arms before as she felt in Damon's.

Damon rested his head against hers, and they both closed their eyes as they got lost in the movements. They completely let the room fade for a minute as they swayed back and forth. Soon, she let her head fall to his shoulder, and then to his neck where she buried her face in his skin.

He was quick to lean his head against hers. She briefly looked up to see other couples mirroring the same position as them. She smiled before lifting her head back up to look at Damon's face.

"You're so beautiful," Damon whispered, causing her grin to widen.

She leaned up giving him the briefest, softest kisses that she'd ever given him before. "Thank you, baby."

"Can we leave now?" He pouted again, and she wanted to kiss it off his face.

Elena laughed, throwing her head back. "Can you not think of nothing else?"

"Is it so wrong to want you all to myself?"

"Nothing wrong with that, I'd just rather you wait it out for just a little bit longer." She ran her hands through the end of his hair that were touching his neck. "I promise I'll let you do all kinds of wicked things to me when we leave."

"That just makes me want to leave faster, you know." Damon pointed out, before sighing. "But fine, just another hour. That's it."

"Stop pouting, babe." Elena muttered, lifting her fingers to his lips, pulling on them gently.

"If you get me out of here then."

"Not a chance."

"Then I'm going to keep pouting."

"Fine."

"Fine."

She rolled her eyes at their bickering, taking his hand and winding them through the maze of couples that had joined the dance floor. She led them over to the bar, and ordered herself a drink without being asked for I.D.

Damon looked at her in surprise, wrapping an arm around her waist casually. He ordered a drink for himself. Bourbon. Classic.

She took a sip of her drink and felt Damon's lips press against her ear. "Not planning on getting drunk tonight are we?"

"We'll need to be a little buzzed in order to get through this evening," Elena muttered bitterly, and heard as Damon chuckled in her ear. "Can you honestly say you weren't wanting a drink?"

"I'm with you, why would I want a drink?" Damon asked her, shrugging his shoulders. But this statement caused her heart to melt into a puddle on the floor. He was being so uber sweet to her all day, probably to make up for their stupid fight. Yep, she definitely loved this guy right beside her.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Best." Another kiss. "Boyfriend." Kiss. "Ever."

"I do aim to please you," he said, a smirk firmly planted on his face.

"And you do it so well." Elena grinned at him, wrapping her own arm around his waist. "Maybe you should take me home after all."

"Thank god, let's get out of here." Damon practically threw his drink down his throat. He slammed the glass down on the counter, and tried to drag her out of the place. She wouldn't let him have it though, considering she didn't even get to finish her drink yet.

"Hold up, I said maybe." Elena reminded him, seeing his face fall. "At least let me finish my drink first before you drag me around places."

"Elena, you're killing me here," Damon whined, placing his hands on either side of her arms. "Hurry up and drink that."

She laughed at his behavior. "You're incorrigible."

"Baby..." he whined again and she decided to end his suffering and finished off her drink in record time. Damon's face lit up like a little boy waking up on Christmas morning and finding out he had tons of presents under the tree for him to open up. It was absolutely adorable.

Elena was tugged out of the Lockwood's house, and by his car in record time. She was giggling the whole way, smiling at him as he held her hand.

She stopped him when they got to his car, grabbing both his hands in hers. She stared up at him as she saw a look of confusion cross his face. Confession time.

"Damon, I just... I just wanted you to know that you make me so happy. I know that's kind of weird considering you really hurt me over the past few days." She rubbed her thumbs over his hands, staring into his eyes. "But when we are together and happy it's absolutely wonderful. I've never felt like this before with anyone."

"Elena..." Damon whispered, squeezing her hands. "You don't have to -"

She cut him off before he could continue his train of thought. "No, don't say anything and let me finish." She took a deep breath. "You just... you make me feel so alive and great. I never want to let another stupid fight get in the way of what we have because it's pretty damn special."

Elena closed her mouth, finished with her tiny speech. She waited for his reaction for way too long it felt like. She seriously thought he was going to get scared and run away again. She squeezed his hands carefully in hers, and this seemed to pull him out of his funk.

He moved forward, pressing his lips hard against hers. It had been totally unexpected which made it completely amazing. She kissed him back with as much passion as he was giving her. She found herself pushing against him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

They pulled back after just a few minutes, breathing hard. They rested their foreheads against each others. Finally, he whispered. "No one has ever said anything like to me before."

"Well, that makes me happy," Elena whispered back, pressing a kiss to his lips. She stared up at him so a few moments, never breaking their eye contact. "Take me home."

Damon pressed a kiss to her forehead, before walking towards the car with her in tow.

* * *

They arrived at the boarding house quickly. He was being so sweet the entire ride home and she didn't know what to say. He had held her hand the whole way home, stroking his thumb over her hand. She sat there staring at him while he drove. She'd never seen him so relaxed in the entire time that she'd known him.

He had caught her staring a couple of times, but only smiled back at her. She couldn't help but allow herself to be wrapped up into his arms as they walked towards the boarding house. Her face was nuzzled in his neck, as he ran a hand up and down her arm.

She didn't realize how truly exhausted she was until they had made it upstairs. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in Damon's bed and sleep for days. She took a seat on his perfectly made bed, as he went downstairs to check on Stefan.

She ran her hands over the beautiful bedding, and she found herself curling up in a ball on top of it. Her eyes had just drifted closed when Damon came storming into the room causing her to sit up quickly.

"Stefan's gone!"

* * *

**What do you think? Let me know! What do you think happened to Stefan?**


	12. Return

**Another chapter! It's kinda short, but I really wanted to end it at this cliffhanger, and I really couldn't think of a filler.**

** So here you go. Chapter 12! :)**

* * *

"What do you mean Stefan's gone?"

"He got out, he's not downstairs. He's not in the house," Damon said in a jumbled mess, that she really had to strain to hear exactly what he was saying. "Which means he's blood hungry with a whole town of humans at his disposal."

Now, that certainly caused some problems.

"Okay, you need to calm down," Elena said, getting reluctantly off the bed. She really just wanted to go to sleep. "We'll find him."

"How? He could be half way across the state by now," Damon's voice was raising, as he started pacing the room. "How in the world did he get out?"

"Damon..." Elena whispered, trying to get his attention back on her, but he just kept pacing, pretending she wasn't even there. "Damon..." This time he turned to face her, staring at her with pleading eyes. "Everything's going to be okay. We're going to find him."

"You weren't there with him in his darkest ripper days, Elena. I saw him when he was at the lowest point a vampire can be..." Damon explained, and she could see the sadness in his eyes as he reminisced about his past. She'd never heard him talk so openly about what had happened between him and his brother after Katherine had turned them. "He was almost wiping out entire towns, killing hundreds of people."

"That doesn't mean it's going to happen again," Elena reasoned with him. "He was only on human blood for one day."

"Yes it does, Elena... he's been hungry for human blood and he'll stop at nothing to get it." Damon was pleading with her to understand. And she understood that he knew more about it than she did, but she didn't want to have the giving up attitude that he did. She still believed that they could find Stefan and make him better. "The only thing that is somewhat comforting is that I took away his ring."

"So that means our best chance of finding him is when the sun comes out and he has to stay in one place?" Elena asked, finally understanding the situation.

"Exactly..." Damon wandered off. "But it does pose some complications."

"That if we wait until sunrise he could be many miles away from here..." Elena filled in the blanks. She said them out loud, but it was hardly necessary because Damon just nodded in agreement. "So what do we do then?"

Damon moved to sit on the bed, placing his head in his hands, while running his hands through his hair. "I haven't figured it out yet."

To be honest, Elena was completely dumbfounded by the whole situation. She didn't know what to do about finding Stefan, he got lost twice already in the last 2 days. How does that happen to one person? After all the events that had happened today she was extremely exhausted. She started swaying where she was standing, and had to shake herself to keep herself awake.

However, the action didn't go unnoticed by Damon who was now looking at her with concerned eyes. He stood up again, coming over to her. He placed his hands on her upper arms, causing her to look up at him. "You're tired."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Elena replied sarcastically, before waving off his comment. "I'm fine. Really."

"This is hardly the time to be sarcastic, Elena."

"I've had a lot going on today. Sarcasm is the only thing I've got going for me right now," Elena whispered, feeling his hands stroking up and down her arms. "So are we going to find Stefan now or in the morning?"

"Elena..." Damon whispered; and she could tell that it was his 'I can see through your bullshit and I'm not buying it tone.'

"Don't Elena me," She said, just as he was reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, he tucked it behind her ear before his finger trailed down her cheek. His thumb just ghosted over her cheek but it had an overwhelming amount of power over her.

She found herself crumbling under his penetrating gaze. Another wave of tiredness washed over her and she let her eyes fall shut just focusing on the sensation that his fingers were causing on her face. His thumb moved down to her lips where he traced her bottom lip with his thumb.

This caused her to look up at him with a heated gaze. "This bickering over whether or not you're tired is really stupid, you know?"

"I know," she whispered. She knew exactly how incredibly stupid it was to be fighting about something so trivial, but everything seemed to feel better when they were fighting even over something so stupid. "But it feels easier than thinking about anything else."

"Hey, I get it." Damon smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm the master of deflecting."

And for the first time since they'd found out that Stefan was missing they both smiled. It wasn't the happiest of moments, but it just seemed appropriate at the time. Damon seemed to be pleased that she had finally smiled and leaned down to place a kiss on her lips.

She accepted the kiss willingly, allowing herself to be swept into his all to waiting arms. He wound his arms around her waist, picking her up off the ground and placing her on the bed.

Elena pulled her lips from his just as she placed on the bed. "I like this form of deflecting even more."

"It's because I'm such a stud, right?" Damon smirked, as she smiled up at him. "You know what? You don't have to answer that, I already know the answer."

"You're too cocky for your own good," Elena pointed out, laughing as he started placing kisses all over her face.

He didn't respond but his eyes were lighting up as he kissed her face. She was letting out shrieking laughs as his hands were starting to tickle the sides of her body. Her laughter became infectious as he started laughing along with her.

"Damon! Damon! Stop!" Elena shrieked, thrashing from side to side as he tickled her. "I surrender!"

He smiled, stopping in his tickling war. He moved his hands up to hers, intertwining them above her head as he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips. She yawned into his kiss despite herself, and realized that she really needed to get some sleep or she'd be a walking zombie tomorrow morning.

"Time for my girl to get some sleep," Damon said, sweetly, moving off her to lay by her side.

She rolled over on her side. "I like it when you call me your girl. It's sweet."

"I'm glad that you think so," Damon whispered, before moving off the bed despite her protests. "I'm just getting you something more comfortable to sleep in."

Elena smiled at his thoughtful gesture, and filed it away in her memories for whenever they had a fight and she needed to remember why she was with him in the first place. She pulled her dress over her head, dropping it on the floor so that she was just left in her bra and panties.

"Maybe I'd rather just sleep naked..." Elena's voice was suggestive and sexy.

It caused him to turn around, his gaze settling on her half-exposed body. He was lingering on her sexy tanned legs that seemed to go on for miles. She snapped her fingers to get his attention back to her face.

"You know I can't resist you when you're naked." Damon tossed a t-shirt of his her way. She caught it reluctantly in her hands, disappointed that she wasn't going to be getting any action tonight. "And you need all the rest you can get before tomorrow."

"I guess I'm just going to miss the fact that I was planning on spending all night in your bed cuddled up with you, most definitely naked." Elena choose that moment to pull the shirt over her head, covering her body. "I was also planning on spending the entire day with you, naked again of course."

Damon's eyes were now hungry as he looked at her.

"We could spend the entire day, rolling around between the sheets. Naked." She felt the need to repeat the word naked in order to get a rise out of him. "Oh and maybe on other surfaces of the house too."

Damon was on top of her in a second, kissing the side of her neck.

"Oh well..." Elena sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Too bad we have to go to sleep."

"You're such a little minx," Damon muttered against her neck. He started peppering kisses along her neck, up to her cheek and then to her mouth where he placed soft kisses against her lips. "You're lucky I like you or I'd kick you out of my bed."

"You'd never kick me out of your bed, you'd miss me too much," Elena reminded him, beaming a smile up at him.

"I hate it when you're right," he pouted down at her, and she leaned up to kiss the pout right off his lips. He responded to the kiss wholeheartedly, pressing his lips tightly against hers. When he pulled back he let out a sigh. "But that, I can't hate."

She shook her head, smiling the entire time. Her arms curled around his back pulling him close to her. They sat there in silence, staring at each other as time passed on. It could have been hours and neither would have noticed. It just felt so good to be wrapped up in each other's arms again. The thought of Stefan was driven out of their minds for the moment as they lost themselves in each other.

"Go to sleep," Damon whispered, pressing one final kiss on her lips before rolling off of her.

He started taking off his clothes, starting with his suit jacket. "You probably already know this, but you look really hot in a suit," Elena whispered, leaning over and taking his ear between her teeth, pulling on it.

"You look really hot in my shirt," Damon said, loosening his tie. "Although I'd rather it be on the floor."

"I could always arrange that," Elena drawled seductively into his ear, her hand gliding down his chest as her tongue flicked over the shell of his ear. "I don't think I'm tired anymore."

"You're driving me crazy, Elena," Damon whined, taking his tie off completely before starting to unbutton his shirt. However, she got to it first unbuttoned them slowly before pushing it off his shoulders and letting it drop to the floor. "Do you really think we can fix him?"

And just like that, the sexual atmosphere had been whisked away as Damon filled it with worry. She looked at his face and it showed how truly worried he was for his brother's safety. She stopped taking off the rest of her clothes and put her hands on either side of his cheeks forcing him to look at her.

"Yes, I do," Elena urged. "He's going to be fine. We're going to find him in one piece, and hopefully no bodies to be found. We're going to fix him. I promise."

Damon just nodded before letting out a huff and falling back on the bed. He threw a hand over his eyes, while his other hand wrapped around her waist pulling her towards him. She went willingly, landing on top of him with a leg on either side of his waist.

"Are you going to be okay?" Elena asked, softly, the concern for his well being was heard clearly in her voice. "We can still go look for him now you know? I don't mind."

"No, we should get some sleep. Maybe he'll be here in the morning."

Elena rested her head on top of his chest, snuggling her face into his bare skin. Their arms wrapped around each other, finding comfort in the other's embrace. She placed a kiss on his chest as she closed her eyes and finally drifted into a much needed sleep.

* * *

Stefan had been wandering around for what seemed like ages. It was still dark outside so he didn't need his ring which he had pretty much tore the house apart looking for. He had wanted human blood so bad that he had managed to get out of basement where Damon had locked him. He still didn't know how he had been able to do it but here he was. In the deepest, darkest woods of Mystic Falls. Not a human being in sight.

He'd been planning on going to the first place that had a big crowd of people so that he could get his first target without it being too noticeable. But the only place he could think of was the Founder's Party, and there was no way he could show up there. Especially when Elena was there, he couldn't imagine hurting her twice.

So, instead of finding a human he'd made his way to the woods where he looked for a nice animal to eat in order to hold him over. He'd thought about going over to another town, but he had decided against it at the last moment.

This had given him a large amount of time to think things over. He'd finally get control over his blood lust and start being a better person, especially for Elena. He had to admit that he still had feelings for her but she seemed so blissfully happy with Damon that she probably wouldn't even notice if he had tried to get her attention.

Stefan was startled by a sound amongst the trees bringing him out of his thoughts. He whirled around looking for any signs of an intruder but the leaves just rustled in the wind. He had just began to relax when he heard another sound. This time coming from his other side. He spun around again and this time there was a figure standing there in front of him.

His jaw dropped at the sight of someone from his past.

"Hello, lover."


	13. Searching

**Hi guys! I can't tell you how excited I am that in this chapter I'm getting to write some Katherine/Stefan. I hadn't originally planned for this to happen but it did! I'm surprised that I got this chapter out so fast, and I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I have half of the next chapter written, mostly because I want to get it out before I leave for school, and have another chapter ready so that I don't update too infrequently.**

**Anyways, I hope you like it, because we're kind of getting into the main plot of the story! Only a few chapters left and then we'll be done. I've been considering adding an epilogue, but we'll see.  
**

**Enough of me talking, please read and as always review!  
**

* * *

Stefan's face was one of complete shock as he was faced with his ex-lover, Katherine Pierce. Seeing Katherine again, seemed like a dream. No longer faced with the memories of her in dresses of the 1800s; she was now dressed in tight skinny jeans, a skin tight black top which she had paired with a black leather jacket. She had a snarky look on her face, the same face as Elena. But the way she presented herself was what separated her from Elena.

Katherine stalked closer to him, taking in his own appearance. He was soon feeling slightly uncomfortable under her penetrating gaze, feeling like a piece of meat under her stare. Katherine walked around Stefan, reaching her finger up to graze over his chest. If he'd had a heart it would be beating very fast at this moment, as he sucked in an unneeded breath.

She stopped once she was behind him, her lips by his ear. "I've missed you, Stefan."

This seemed to spark some action inside him and he grabbed her arm in his hand, flipping her over and onto the ground. He hovered over her as she stared up at him with the look of innocence on her face. The look was so unfamiliar to him that it reared him back.

But the look didn't last long before it turned menacing again. He flashing his fangs at her but her expression didn't change. Katherine didn't seem affected by his vampire display, and easily pushed Stefan off of her.

He rolled on the ground and saw that she was looming over him. "That was cute Stefan, but you'd do well to remember that I'm much older than you." Her face portrayed nothing but pure boredom. "We both know, I could rip you to shreds and do my nails at the same time."

"What do you want, Katherine?" Stefan asked, in an attempt to take some of the control back in the situation.

"I wanted to play, Stefan," Katherine explained, watching curiously as he stood up. "Just like old times. Remember how much fun we used to have?"

"You compelled me to love you, Katherine," Stefan spat out, walking away only much to his distaste to have Katherine follow him. "So, no I don't want to play any more games with you."

"You think you didn't love me," Katherine said incredulously, falling instep beside him. "I compelled you to forget about how much of a big bad monster I am, but I never compelled you to love me. I'm not that low of a person."

Stefan spun around, taking her by the arms and shoving her into a nearby tree. He reveled in the shocked look that crossed her face at his abrupt action. "What is it that you came here for, Katherine? Just get on with it."

Katherine's face changed as she spoke the words that he'd never thought he'd ever hear from her again. It made him loosen his grip on her arms slightly. "I love you, Stefan. I came back for you."

But, her words weren't enough to have him falling in love with her all over again.

"I don't believe you, Katherine. Because, here's the thing... you had over a century and a half to find me and say those words to me again, but you ran like a coward." Stefan's voice was being raised, as the trees in the woods seemed to rustle around them. "You faked your death and I had to mourn you. I thought that you had truly loved me, but I was wrong."

Katherine opened her mouth to say something but Stefan cut her off. "I had to find out that you were alive again by opening a tomb that you were supposed to be in. All the time we spent together has been a complete lie, Katherine, don't you have anything to say for yourself? Any way to explain the pain you had caused both Damon and I?"

"Stefan, I was looking out for myself," Katherine explained in a rush. "You had to have known even back then that I would always look out for myself. Loving you was holding me back, and I stayed in one spot too long and I shouldn't have."

Something suddenly dawned on him as he listened to Katherine's explanation. "Who were you running from?"

Katherine didn't speak, but pushed him away from her, turning her back on him.

"No wait, you're still running from them aren't you?" Stefan asked her, curiously. "Tell me the truth for once, Katherine."

She seemed to hesitate, running a hand through her perfect curls that were blowing in the wind. "Yes, I was running from someone back then, that's why I had to fake my death, in order to get them off my trail."

"But why were you running from them?"

Katherine turned around, giving him a devious smirk that he knew meant trouble was ahead. "I think that's enough talking for now, Stefan. This wasn't exactly the reunion I had planned for us to have. Let's change that, shall we?"

Stefan gave her a confused look but didn't have time to think about what she meant before she blurred over to him. He noticed the stake in her hand too late and barely had time to react as she stabbed the stake in his stomach. He fell down on the ground, clutching his stomach in pain.

"I'm going to get all of us together again, Stefan," Katherine crouched down to whisper in his ear. "We're going to have so much fun together."

* * *

Damon was the first one to wake up that morning. He looked down to find Elena curled around him, which was not unusual but it seemed like she was holding on to him tighter than usual this morning. She looked absolutely beautiful while she was sleeping and it hurt him that he'd have to leave her so soon. He'd planned last night that he wouldn't take her while he went searching for Stefan. He really didn't want her involved in that situation.

But with her pretty much on top of him it was going to be hard to get her to let go of him. He lifted his hand up to run it through her long brown locks that were flowing down her back. He ran his fingers through all the tangles that had gotten in her hair through the night.

Elena let out a contended purr as his hand traveled down her back. God, he really didn't want to leave her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as he tried to remove himself from her grasp. But she just held on tighter not willing to let him go.

Damn it, he would need another plan. He started placing gentle kisses down the side of her face, gently rolling on top of her. His plan was working as Elena let out a moan, loosening her grip on his body, so that they lightly wrapped around his waist.

Damon placed a soft kiss on her lips before narrowingly escaping her embrace. He successfully got out of the bed, and walked into the bathroom without making a sound. He turned around and saw Elena curl up with the pillow that his head had just vacated. He watched her smile as his scent surrounded her. He smiled in return even though she couldn't see it and quietly closed the bathroom door behind him.

He took a quick shower, and wrapped a towel around his hips. He exited the bathroom as quietly as he could but when he turned around he didn't anticipate Elena sitting there with her arms crossed over her chest with a disapproving look on her face.

"Were you just going to leave without telling me?" Elena asked him, a frown coming out to play on her face.

Damon sighed, not wanting to tell her anything about his plan. "Elena... I'm sorry but I just don't think that you should be a part of this. I should go find Stefan on my own, I don't want you to get hurt while we're out there finding Stefan."

"Damon, you're making it seem like Stefan has been kidnapped." Elena scoffed, running a hand through her hair. "He just needed to get some air, and he was hungry. I really think he's alright."

Damon walked over to his closet, losing the towel to pull on a pair of jeans along with a t-shirt. "You're not coming, end of story."

Elena got off the bed, coming to stand behind him. "I'm coming with you."

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Elena, I swear to god I will tie you to my bed and leave you there until I come back," Damon warned her, his eyes daring her to contradict him. "So for once in your life, just listen to me."

Elena's eyes flashed in anger at his threat. "You wouldn't do that."

"Oh really? Watch me," Damon smirked threateningly, as he picked her up throwing her over his shoulder as he walked towards the bed.

"Damon! Put me down!" Elena yelled, beating at his back with her tiny fists. But he didn't put her down just laughed at her attempts as he put her down on the bed. He hovered over her, capturing her wrists in his hand and holding them above her head.

"Believe me now?" Damon asked her, staring down at her with a mocking look on her face. "I thought you knew better than to test a vampire, Elena."

"Stop being such an asshole." Elena tried to pull her wrists out of his grasp, squirming beneath him and she accidentally rubbed deliciously against his crotch. It didn't help the situation that she was dressed in one of his long shirts and he could see her sexy long legs between his.

"You'll get over it," he murmured before leaning down to her neck where he placed open mouthed kisses on the exposed skin. He felt her relax as he continued to place kisses on her neck, his tongue coming out to trace along the skin.

"Please let me come," Elena whispered, softly tugging at her wrists again. This time he released her and her hands automatically dived into his hair. He purred as she ran her hands through the strands of his hair. "I promise it'll be safe."

Damon moved his mouth up along the side of her face, so that he could place a couple of kisses on her mouth. "I don't know..." Damon whispered against her lips, his hand coming up to rest against her face, his thumb stroking her cheek as he stared into her eyes.

He was worried for her safety. Oh, who was he kidding. He was always worried about her safety no matter what happened to her. After the last adventure that involved Stefan he'd barely come back unscathed. He still hadn't had the heart to tell her what had happened to them. He certainly didn't want her to be faced with that kind of fate.

"Something could happen to you," Damon whispered after a short while, after going through his thoughts. "I don't think I could live with that."

"But Damon, I can't stay here and wait for you again though," Elena said, a pout forming on her perfect lips. "Plus, I'll be with you."

"And if I can't protect you?"

Elena smiled. "I can take care of myself to you know. I don't always have to be the damsel in distress."

She was using his own words against him. Nicely played, Elena, nicely played. It made him want to give into her, because really, how could he ever deny her of anything that she wanted.

"You'll be the death of me, Elena Gilbert," Damon sighed, before pressing a hard kiss to her lips. She responded eagerly to the kiss, her hands traveling down his back. He was absolutely loving the attention that her hands were giving him.

His tongue explored her mouth, tangling with hers. She moaned into his mouth which only made him harder for her. He took the opportunity to grind himself against her, one of his traveling down the length of her body to her thigh which he lifted and curled it around his waist.

He pulled his mouth away from hers to give her a much needed breath, but didn't want to stop the torture that his mouth was giving to her. He trailed his mouth down to her neck where he placed urgent kisses.

"I know what you're doing," Elena whimpered, which slowly turned into a moan as he pulled up her shirt to reveal her breasts which were on display for his gaze. He took one of her breasts into his mouth, flicking his tongue along her nipple. "Damon... stop trying to distract me."

Damon lifted his head up, and with a smirk said, "I'm not trying to distract you at all."

Elena pulled at his hair, making his face come up to hers. Then she flipped them over so that she was straddled him. "Maybe I should tie you to this bed and go search for Stefan all on my own."

"You wouldn't be able to tie me to this bed and you know it," Damon said, staring up at her curiously. "I'd like to see you try."

"Is that a challenge?" Elena raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, Elena, seriously enough with the games," Damon said, tossing her over onto the other side of the bed easily. "I need to go look for Stefan."

"I'm coming with you," Elena said, jumping out of the bed and pulling on a fresh pair of clothes. "Don't try and talk me out of it because you won't."

"Fine, you can come," Damon agreed, and watched her jump up and down in happiness. "But you have to listen to me. No matter what."

"Fine! Fine! Let's go!" Elena said excitedly, grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door.

"God, woman, you are too much for me."

* * *

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

A voice loomed over Stefan, coaxing him out of his unconscious state. He opened his eyes lazily and was faced with Katherine's taunting face standing over him. She had a smirk on her face when he opened his eyes. He looked around the room, and found that he was in some type on cellar. His wrists were tied up with vervain, that he could feel burning into his skin.

Katherine was twirling a stake in her hands that had blood covering the end of it. He assumed that it was his own blood from earlier. What in the world would Katherine want with him? Was this some kind of punishment for opening the tomb?

"You've been out for quite some time," Katherine said, bringing with out of his thoughts. "I thought you were going to miss all the fun."

"What do you want with me?" Stefan croaked out, closing his eyes again, no longer being able to keep them open.

"Revenge, sweetie," Katherine said, crouching down and lifting her hand up to the side of his face. She hit it gently to get him to open his eyes once more. "You and that stupid brother of yours opened that stupid tomb letting everybody know that I've actually been free this entire time."

"Let me get this straight," Stefan whispered, staring at her with angry eyes. "You're going to get revenge on me because you are a stupid selfish bitch who only cared about herself by running away from us. We could have helped you, Katherine."

"You were two pathetic humans, your love for me was holding me back from what I had to do in order to keep myself alive," Katherine spat out, gripping the side of Stefan's face with her hand.

"Like I said, selfish bitch," Stefan taunted her. This was so uncharacteristic of him. It was like he was channeling the sarcastic side of his brother which was infuriating her. "Why not go after Damon though? The plan to unleash you out of the tomb was originally his idea."

"Oh, don't worry. He's part of my plan." Katherine assured him, standing up again, patting the side of his face once more. "You're just what's going to get him here. Hopefully he'll bring that little doppelganger bitch with him."

"Don't you dare touch her," Stefan warned her, pulling at his restraints again. "Damon would never bring her here."

"You'd be surprised what a good pout, and the promise of sex can get you with this body," Katherine smirked at the memories. "Works on Damon like a charm."

"Elena wouldn't manipulate him to get her own way," Stefan defended her, little did he know that that's exactly what Elena had done to get her way.

"You'd be surprised." Katherine said, her tone distasteful. "Now, let's stop talking about that bitch and talk about something more interesting. Or actually maybe we should do something a little more interesting."

"Can you just get to the point already?" Stefan sighed, rolling his eyes at her childish behavior.

"I was thinking that maybe we could start things off like old times. I know it's probably been a long time before someone's rocked your world in bed like I have, and I'm willing to give you a taste of old times because I know how much you're craving for it."

Katherine peeled off her shirt, dropping it onto the floor so that Stefan was staring at her black bra that made her breasts look delicious. He looked away not wanting to see this anymore, he had to convince himself that Katherine was just trying to get into his head. He didn't need to get sucked into her charms all over again.

"I know you were trying to replace me with Elena," Katherine rolled around the name in her mouth bitterly, as if she couldn't believe that she was actually saying it. "But now you can have the real thing baby."

"I don't want you," Stefan spat bitterly. He tried to move when she moved to straddle him but she was too fast for him and trapped him under her body.

"Now we both know that's a lie, Stefan," Katherine whispered against his lips before crashing her lips down on his unresponsive lips. But she was persistent and kept pressing her lips against his. Finally, he gave in if only to distract her.

Katherine let out a satisfied purr as he finally gave into her. She swiped her tongue along his lips, coaxing him to open his lips in order for her to shove her tongue into his mouth. He granted her permission by opening his mouth to hers and letting his tongue tangle with hers.

It didn't take long before they were both moaning into each others mouths, Katherine's hands pulling at his hair roughly and sharply that had him gasping into her mouth. He felt her start to grind herself on his crotch and it of course started a reaction that he really wanted to stop himself from having.

But it was there, and he was now sporting a full erection from her grinding on top of him. Katherine reached behind her body to unhook her bra, letting her breasts fall free. She leaned up so that her breasts were planted in front of his face. He tried to turn his head away but she yanked him back by his hair.

"Suck on them," Katherine simple command rang through his ears and he couldn't help but wrap his lips around them, sucking on them gently. He became spurred on by her little moans and proceeded to suck them harder into his mouth.

All too soon it was over and Katherine was pushing Stefan away from her as she stood up. She picked up her bra and her shirt, putting them on in respective order on her body.

"Told you that you still wanted me," Katherine smirked before walking out of the room, swaying her hips as she did so. She closed the door behind her, as Stefan hung his head, still trying to process what the hell had just happened.

* * *

"Damon, we've just been walking around in circles," Elena whined as they walked through the woods, which Damon had suggested would be the first place Stefan would go. "He hasn't been here."

"It's Stefan, Elena, he's the master of brooding," Damon said, his eyes scanning the woods. "And when he's brooding and doesn't want to feed on a human, he comes to the woods in order to find some animal blood to help the nagging itch go away in the back of his mind."

"But -" Elena started, only to have Damon cut her off.

"I've known him a lot longer than you have, I know what he does and how he thinks," Damon said, he was now walking so fast and so far in front of her that she had to jog a little in order to keep up with him. "So please just stop."

"Damon -" Elena started again, slightly breathless while having a hard time keeping up with him.

He cut her off again. "Elena, you said if I let you come you'd do whatever I wanted you to do and right now I'm telling you to stop talking."

She hadn't even noticed that her eyes were starting to well up with tears because of his cold and harsh tone. He had never spoke to her this way before, and she couldn't help but be affected by it. Damon was oblivious to her distress as he stalked through the woods. However, she stopped trying to keep up with him.

She decided to walk at a slow pace, staring down at the ground as she walked, her feet shuffling in the grass as she kicked the sticks and leaves around the ground. Damon didn't even seem to notice that she had wondered behind him. She wiped at the tears that were flowing down her cheeks.

She knew deep inside that Damon was just upset about his brother, but she didn't like that he was taking it out so hurtfully on her. She knew it seemed stupid to be upset over a few harsh words but she just felt overwhelmed with everything that was happening lately.

Elena's phone started ringing in her pocket and she carefully dug it out of her pocket. She smiled briefly as she saw her Aunt Jenna's name flash across the screen. She leaned against a nearby tree as she pressed her phone to her ear.

"Hello?" She said into the phone. Her gaze finding Damon who had finally stopped and turned around at the sound of her voice.

She dropped her gaze to the ground. "Elena, thank god. Where have you been?"

"I spent the night at Damon's, I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"I thought you guys were broken up? You did spend days crying up in your room if I remember correctly. Are you really sure that you should forgive him so easily?" Jenna's worried tone at the news that her and Damon were back together was something that she expected. She knew that Jenna had been there for the heartbreak of it all and didn't want to see her niece get hurt again so easily.

"I know it doesn't seem right, but something happened that made me realize that I could forgive him."

"As long as you're sure?"

Elena smiled. "Of course I'm sure. I promise I'll be back soon. Make sure you get the pizza all ready for me."

"Maybe I was planning on cooking tonight."

Elena laughed. "Yeah, good joke, Aunt Jenna."

"Be back soon, we really miss you around here you know," Jenna said, and the sadness in her voice ripped through Elena's heart as she clutched the phone to her ear. "I feel like I have more of a relationship with your phone than with you."

"I'm sorry, I really am." Elena let a tear escape from her eye, before hastily wiping it away with her sleeve. "I'll try and make more time for family."

"I know he's your boyfriend, sweetie, and he's really important to you," Jenna said, and Elena could hear the lecture in her voice. "But we're important too. And you know, I think Jeremy's getting used to the idea of being an only child."

"He's probably just holed up in his room like usual," Elena said, rolling her eyes. She looked up finding that Damon was walked back towards her. She needed to end this call. "I have to go, Jenna, I'll be home later."

She hung up with Jenna, before slipping her phone back into her pocket. When she looked up again Damon was standing in front of her. She crossed her arms over her chest, before pushing past him to continue walking through the woods.

"Elena -" Damon started, but this time it was Elena who cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it, Damon. I was just trying to make helpful suggestions and you shot them all down like they didn't even matter," Elena whispered, walking further into the woods.

Damon grabbed onto her arm, pulling her around to face him. "Elena, I'm sorry for how I acted. I'm just focused on Stefan and finding him. I'm not used to having people around when I'm on these stupid 'Save Stefan' missions."

Elena sighed. "Look Damon, I know you're worried about your brother but I really don't need you to take it out on me. We have our own problems to worry about, I don't want to have to worry about anything else on top of all that."

"I'm sorry," Damon whispered, taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently. "I shouldn't be taking it out on you, I guess I just don't know how else to deal with this."

"I know you don't," Elena said, leaning up to place a soft kiss on his lips. "That's what I'm here for. I'm a pretty good listener."

"Am I forgiven?" Damon asked, smiling down at her.

"I haven't really decided yet..." Elena trailed off, only to be lifted into the air, giggling as Damon swatted playfully against her ass as he spun her around. "Okay! Okay! You're forgiven!"

He reluctantly placed her back down on the ground. She smiled as she walked around his body to his back, before tapping his shoulder with her hands. "Crouch down."

"Why?" He asked curiously, but obeyed her anyways.

"Because I want you to carry me the rest of the way," Elena giggled before jumping on his back, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He hooked his arms underneath her thighs, chuckling as she placed a grateful kiss on his neck.

"You're lucky that you're my girlfriend," Damon said, walking through the woods easily. "And you're also very lucky that I'm a vampire."

"I know I am, baby," Elena said, smirking into his neck. "Let's go find Stefan, hurry up."

"You make me feel used," Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes even though she couldn't see.

* * *

"Maybe they don't really care about you," Katherine's voice brought Stefan out of yet another state of unconsciousness. "I figured that they would be here by now, wanting to collect their precious Stefan."

"Looks like your little plan of revenge isn't working out," Stefan's weak voice sounded through the dungeon that he was still entrapped in. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"Just because he's not here right now, doesn't mean that he won't show up at some point," Katherine irritated voice was all he heard as she paced back and forth. This was something very unnatural for Katherine. She didn't worry about things, especially her plans. "He's probably getting distracted with Ew-lena."

"I thought that nicknames would be beneath you Katherine," Stefan said, amused. "It seems that she's really getting under your skin."

Katherine blurred over and grabbed him by the neck, squeezing it with her fingers tightly. "Let's get one straight, the only thing that irritates me about her is that she has something that is mine. I have every intention of getting it back."

"Good luck with that Katherine, but if it turns out like your last plan did," Stefan paused, letting his words sink in. "You'll really need the luck."

Katherine didn't answer as she seemed to be focused on something else entirely. She loosened her grip on Stefan's neck as a smile formed on her face. "Looks like I won't need that luck after all. Our party guests have arrived."

* * *

**So what'd you think? Let me know your thoughts! :)**


	14. Endings & Beginnings

_OH MY GOODNESS FINALLY! I won't talk until the end so you can finally read this chapter.  
_

* * *

"I'm so tired," Elena whined, feeling exhausted. They had been walking around trying to find Stefan for what seemed like hours and hours. It was started to get dark outside and she had long ago tightened her grip on Damon so that she would feel somewhat safer looking out into the woods.

"Why are you tired?" Damon asked her incredulously, rolling his eyes. "I've been carrying you for the last three hours."

"Watching you work is just so tiring though," Elena sighed, resting her head on Damon's shoulder. "I think I'm working up a sweat just from watching."

"Yeah right," Damon scoffed,

"Can I just take a nap for a few minutes?" Elena asked Damon softly, yawning as she snuggled her head into Damon's shoulder. She breathed in his delicious scent, while closing her eyes.

"Sure baby," Damon chuckled, "I'm going to sit down for a second anyways."

Damon manoeuvred her around his body until she was wrapped around the front of his body instead of the back of it. Elena wrapped her arms and legs around him again while simultaneously burying her face into his neck. She felt him sit down careful not to drop her on what she assumed was some sort of log.

Her butt after so long of being supported by Damon's hands felt great relief when she was set down on his legs. His arms came up to wrap around her back as he buried his face in her chocolate locks. She smelled like heaven even after parading around in the woods all day.

Elena lifted her head up from his neck and rested it carefully against his. They both closed their eyes as if savouring one another's touch.

Finally breaking the silence,

"Hi," Elena whispered, giving him a small smile.

"Hi," Damon mumbled, lifting his head up to place a kiss on her forehead.

Elena giggled before putting her face back into his neck out of embarrassment for her complete girl moment. Sometimes she just realized how lucky she was that she had successfully gotten him.

Damon lips quirked up in amusement. "What's got you giggling?"

"You," Elena smiled against his neck.

"And may I ask why you are giggling at me, Miss Gilbert?" Damon amused voice sounded right by her ear, causing her to make a little jump in his lap.

"Nothing," Elena murmured into his neck, placing a tender kiss on his neck, before bringing her head up to get a good look of his face. Oh, he was pouting. How cute. "Don't pout, it's unattractive on a man of your age."

"You wound me, Miss Gilbert," Damon said, turning away from her when she tried to kiss him. "You don't get any affection from me until your apologize for that horrible comment against my outrageously sexy body."

"Babe..." Elena coaxed, placing her hand on his cheek and tried to turn his face towards her. He resisted at first before giving in and turning his head to face her. "I'm sorry for saying such mean things to insult you. I shouldn't have done that."

Damon rolled his eyes, and turned his head away from her again. Elena huffed before placing her head in his neck, placing kisses all over his neck. She placed them all along the column of his throat, and she felt him visibly relax at her ministrations.

Elena continued to go back and forth between his jaw and his neck. Once she thought she had relaxed him enough to forgive her, she went past his jaw up to his cheek. She kissed him all over his face before finally settled on his lips. He gave into her almost immediately, responding to her soft kiss against his lips.

They kissed for a few moments, her hands tangled into his hair, massaging his scalp gently. The action caused him to let out a contented purr into her mouth.

Elena pulled her mouth away from his slowly so that they were just a breath away. Their lips still touching by a fraction. They could feel each other's breaths mingling into one another's mouths.

"I'm sorry, baby," Elena murmured into his mouth.

"I forgive you," Damon whispered back, kissing her on the lips once more before placing his head back into her neck. "You're still my girl."

"I love you," Elena whispered into his ear, and she heard the strangled gasp that came from Damon at her words. This was the moment. This was what everything had been leading up too. The moment that she finally was able to tell Damon that she loved him. She only hoped that he would say it back even though she didn't expect him too.

"Elena -" Damon started,

Elena lifted her head up placing a finger gently over his lips to halt him in whatever he had been about to say that could have potentially ruined the moment.

"You don't have to say anything," Elena said, locking her eyes with his. "I just needed to get it out. You just needed to know how I feel."

Damon removed her finger from his mouth, clasping it in his hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles carefully. He leaned his forehead against hers before speaking.

"I love you too," Damon whispered,

"You do?"

"Yes, you and all your giggling girly qualities," Damon said, tapping her nose with his finger, causing her to let out the giggle that he had hoped for. "And there's my girl."

"Yours," Elena whispered, giving him a big kiss on the mouth before dutifully climbing off his lap. She held out her hand and he slapped his into it, allowing himself to be pulled up from where he sat on the makeshift chair of a log.

"Let's get back to finding Stefan," Damon said, tangling his fingers with hers as he pulled her along through the woods. "Then we can go home and I can ravish you properly."

* * *

They walked through the woods for another hour before they had finally found something. What they found wasn't pleasant. Coming through a particular rough patch, but only for Elena. Damon had mastered the woods with ease, probably due to his vampirism. She could tell that he felt comfortable roaming in the dark, but he held onto her hand tightly guiding her hand through the maze of trees.

"Well, hello Damon," The sounds of a menacing voice sounded off in the distance, but Damon seemed to stiffen at the sound of it. It was obviously somebody that he knew.

They made it through a clearing and then she came face to face with her doppelganger. Elena let out a small gasp that had Damon releasing her hand and putting his arm around her, tugging her to him gently.

"Oh, I see you brought my little doppelganger along for company on this suicide mission," Katherine drawled, stalking towards them slowly.

"I should have known it was you," Damon sneered at her, his tone was harsh. A tone that Elena had never heard from Damon before and she felt the need to reach under his jacket and shirt and stroke the skin there. It seemed to calm him down slightly as he stole a glance in her direction.

"Ugh, vomit," Katherine put her finger in her mouth, mimicking noises of puking. "I don't know what you and Stefan see in her. She's just a poor imitation of me. The one you really want."

"You've got that completely wrong, Katherine," Damon stepped away from her and towards Katherine. Elena let her hand drop down to her side as she watched their interaction. "Nobody wants you. And you want to know why? Because you are a total bitch who doesn't know what it means to truly love someone."

"You seem to forget that you were in love with me," Katherine countered back,

"Oh no, I wasn't. I realize that now that I've got something better than what I ever had with you. All I ever had to you was a physical attraction that I had mistaken for love. But, you know what? I don't even feel sorry for myself anymore for being played by you, because now most of all I just pity you because you aren't capable of feeling what it's like to be in love."

Damon had raised his voice as he got closer to her. He was practically spitting in her face now he was so close to her. This had Elena worried for Damon's safety, she could catch him off guard at any time. He had to have some sort of plan or he wouldn't be doing this with her here.

"Oh Damon, how sweet that you really believe that love exists," Katherine sneered, pushing him back up from her. "You were only used for my sick amusement, don't tell me you're that stupid to think that Elena isn't doing the same thing to you."

Damon turned his body around to face her almost as if remembering that she was there with him while having his little spat with Katherine. Elena hugged herself while mouthing the words 'I love you' to Damon, which had him giving her a small smile in return.

"Oh you two are pathetic with all your lovey dovey crap," Katherine blabbed on, waving her hand dramatically. "Let's just get this over with."

Before either Damon or Elena could even blink Katherine had flashed before their eyes and was now standing behind Elena, her elbow positioned at her windpipe, crushing her air flow. She was gasping for a breath as Damon growled at Katherine.

"Let her go," Damon growled, stepping cautiously closer to them.

"How cute," A pleased grin played on Katherine's facial expression, "You really think I'm going to listen to you and let her go."

"Katherine, please, if you care about my happiness even one tiny bit will you please let her go," Damon begged; Elena had never seen so much sadness in his eyes before and it touched her heart.

"Let me think about that, uh no."

And with that she had speeded into a little tunnel in the ground that he had failed to notice before. Damon was hot on her heels, searching all the little rooms in there until he found the one where Stefan and Elena were located. Stefan looked as though he was pumped full of vervain and had taken a few stakes to different areas of his body.

He let out a breath as he realized that Elena was still conscious but she had already been shackled to the wall preventing her from moving. Elena looked up at him with wide eyes and that's when he felt the forceful blow come to the back of his head and the last thing he saw was Elena's face before all he saw was black.

* * *

Damon woke up and all he felt was an annoying pounding in his head. He opened his eyes and lifted his head but found that he was very weak. He recognized the signs of vervain in his body. He tried to pull his arms free of the shackles that were bound to his wrist but with no luck. He hung his head in defeat, turning his head slightly to his right side to see that Elena was located right next to him.

Elena's eyes were focused on him but her eyelids were droopy. Her skin was so pale, meaning that she hadn't been fed in a number of hours and was slowly starting to lose her energy. He could see the bloody red marks on her wrist where she had probably been pulling on in order to get free.

"Are you okay?" Damon croaked, his voice sounded incredibly strained.

Elena only nodded her head in response.

"I love you," Damon whispered, trying his best to give her an encouraging smile.

"I love you too," Elena whispered back, and he saw the tears start to escape from her eyes before she could help it. Damn, she hated crying in front of him.

"Baby, don't cry," Damon pleaded, and she closed her eyes tightly before turning her head away from him. He really wished that she hadn't done that. He needed to hear her voice and see her face because it would be the only thing keeping him together. "Oh, I wish I could touch you right now."

"Damon..." Elena whimpered, turning her face back towards him. He could see the trail of tears that were falling down her cheeks. "So much pain..."

It was then that Damon took a survey of her body and saw that on her right leg the bottom half of her jeans had been ripped off and there was a gash in her leg that was still bleeding out. Damon sucked in a breath, as he looked back at her face.

"Oh, baby, what happened?" Damon asked her softly,

"When I yelled at Katherine for attacking you she punished me by taking a knife and slicing part of my leg open," Elena explained, half-heartedly, with a tiny shrug.

Damon got so mad after learning what Katherine had did to her that he pulled so hard on his restraints causing them to come out of the wall. Elena let out a tiny gasp as she witnessed it. Before she even realized he was right in front of her and there was a bleeding wrist pressed up to her mouth.

"Drink, it will heal you," Damon said urgently, pressing his wrist more insistently against her mouth. He relaxed when she accepted his wrist, and started gulping down the blood. He turned his head to the wound on her leg and saw that it was healing in front of his eyes. He pulled his wrist away from her mouth not wanting to give her too much. "Pain gone?"

Elena nodded, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Ditto babe," Damon agreed, before going limp beside her, putting his hand on her thigh, rubbing soothing circles.

"Aren't you going to get us out of here?" Elena asked,

"I used all my energy ripping the chains off me and then feeding you blood, I can't do anymore," Damon said, rubbing soothing circles into her thigh. This action seemed to calm her. "I need a break."

"Katherine could be back any minute," Elena pointed out, yawning in exhaustion. "She moved Stefan to another room, she said that she wanted to play with him a bit. She is so twisted."

"You have no idea,"

"I'm so tired," Elena whispered, her eyes closing despite her best efforts to keep them open.

"Go to sleep, I'm right here," Damon said, leaning over to give her a soft kiss. He felt how dry her lips had become from her exhaustion. He really needed to get her out of here. "I won't leave you."

Elena started to nod, as she fell into a deep sleep. Leaving Damon to stare at her face as she slept. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on even when she was all bruised and battered. All her flaws made her more beautiful in his eyes. He would spend his whole undead life trying to make it up to her once they got themselves out of this mess.

* * *

Elena woke up to the sound of somebody in a great deal of pain. Her eyes popped open and they immediately tried to find Damon. He was currently having a stake shoved repeatedly into his stomach. She heard another scream of pain come from Damon and the tears flowed down her cheeks again as a silent scream came out of her mouth at seeing Damon in any kind of pain.

Finally, Katherine stopped her cruel torture on his body. When she exited the room she finally realized that she had been let free of her chains. She rushed over to Damon, leaning over his body as she surveyed his injuries. She quickly took the stake out of his stomach and threw it away before going to his head.

His eyes were closed tightly as she kneeled by his head. She placed his hands on either side of his face and tried to coax him out of his unconscious state. He opened his eyes weakly, and mumbled something that she couldn't make out.

"What, baby? What do you need?" Elena asked soothingly, smoothing back his hair from his face.

"Lena..." Damon breathed out,

"I'm here," Elena whispered softly, running her hands all through his hair and then onto his face.

"Remember..." Damon chocked out, lifting his hand up with much struggle, and she helped him out by grabbing onto it tightly in between both of hers. "Remember that I - that I love you."

"Damon, what are you saying?" Elena asked hurriedly, gripping his hand tightly. This was starting to sound a lot like a goodbye. "You're not leaving me..."

"I can't..." Damon whispered brokenly, his eyes drifting closed again before popping back open. "There's too much pain..."

"Here, take my blood," Elena insisted, pushing her wrist next to his mouth, but he shook his head against her wrist. He found the strength to turn his head away from her insistent wrist. "Damon, don't argue with me... I can't lose you so let me fix you."

Damon looked into her eyes for any signs of uncertainty in her gaze but found none so he let his vampire visage to come out as his fangs extended. He bit carefully into her wrist, and started taking big pulls from her bloodstream. The feeling was extraordinary for both of them. Elena was on the verge of letting out a loud moan, but before it could happen he pulled away from her wrist.

Elena curled up on the floor next to him, holding his hand as he attempted to recover beside her. She had just hoped that he blood would be enough for him. She watched as the hole in his stomach where the stake used to be closed up until it was completely healed. The color soon came back to Damon's skin and he no longer looked like death.

"Elena," Damon whispered sharply, sitting up beside her and pulling her up with him. "We need to find Stefan and get out of here. We can worry about Katherine later, right now our main priority is getting Stefan out of here. Then, we can go home and pretend that this never even happened."

"Okay," Elena agreed, nodding along to his plan. "Lead the way."

Damon held out his hand for her to take and she placed it in his, allowing him to pull her out of their temporary prison. They walked cautiously down the hall and checked in various rooms down the dark and dingy hallway. Elena gripped tighter onto Damon's hand as they reached the last door at the end of the hall.

When they finally worked up the nerve to open the door, they were faced with a pretty surprising sight. There was Stefan and Katherine, and they were caught in a very comprising position. They were both in varying states of undress. They looked up at them in surprise, obviously not expecting to be caught.

"Oh, glad you could finally join us," Katherine's seductive voice was the only thing heard besides Stefan and Katherine heavy breaths. "Want to make it a four-way? For old time's sake?"

As much as Damon wanted to humor her and play along he couldn't force himself to especially with Elena with him.

"Sorry, Kat, but I think we'll skip this one," Damon smirked, but through his seemingly cool exterior he was shaking inside and wanted nothing more than to get out of this place and never come back. "Stefan, time to go."

"I'm not coming with you, Damon," Stefan said from his position underneath Katherine. "We worked out all our issues and we're actually going to try to be together this time. You don't have to worry about me anymore Damon, I'm going to get the bloodlust thing under control and she's going to help me with all that."

"You're wrong to believe her Stefan -" Elena cut in, but immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say as Damon tightened his grip on her hand to the point that it was hurting. "Ow, Damon -"

Stefan was the one to interrupt her. "You can't tell me who I can and cannot date especially when you didn't take my advice about dating Damon."

Elena opened her mouth as if she was about to speak, but Damon shot her a warning look that clearly said that saying anything would be the worst possible thing she could do.

"Elena, let's just go," Damon said, turning on his heel and dragging her along with him as he led her through the creepy underground walls. It felt like she was being surrounded by death, and the feeling just washed over her. While Damon was appearing to be cool and collected, she felt like cowering in a corner.

"Damon -" Elena whined, pulling on his hand to get him to slow down. She could barely keep up with him, and was tripping over her feet in order to do so. "Can you please slow down?"

"Oh, yeah sure baby," Damon said offhandedly, but he only slowed down a bit, just enough to be noticeable. "Whatever you want."

The way he had brushed her off hurt at first but then they finally reached the clearing where they had been just earlier that day. This was when Damon slowed down enough so that she was now walking beside him. He turned around to face her suddenly before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her roughly against his chest. The action startled her but she had gotten quite used to Damon and his quick reflexes.

She stared up at him with a questioning gaze, while slipping her arms underneath his and wrapping her arms around his waist in return.

"You," Damon started, "Are an amazing woman, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," Elena replied shyly, "But I won't object to you telling me so."

"I'll be telling you everyday then, along with how much I love you."

"You better," Elena grinned at him, watching as he reciprocated with an answering grin of his own.

He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, pouring all the sweetness that he could muster up into one kiss. He removed his hands from around her waist to cup her face. He stroked the sides of her cheeks as he kissed her softly, as if memorizing the way it felt beneath his fingertips. Elena was the first to break apart from their slowly heating up kiss to rest her forehead against his, their labored breaths mingling in the brisk night air.

Elena shivered slightly and pressed herself more tightly against him, trying desperately to soak up all the warmth that he could give to her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. She took the opportunity to bury her head in his chest, and slipped her hands up underneath his jacket to feel the skin that was there. She loved to be skin on skin with her man. But, right now all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed and sleep until they could forget about all the nonsense that had happened today.

"Let's go home," Elena whispered,

"I'll go anywhere with you," Damon whispered back.

* * *

_**The end**. Yes this is the last chapter, I just really needed to end this story. There will be an epilogue. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for it but you never know, I am horrible with updating._


	15. Epilogue

_The epilogue has finally been made! It's really fluffy so I hope you like it. Let me know what ya think!_

* * *

Elena had been perfecting her plan for months now. She had found out from a slip-up from Stefan (who is doing fine by the way) who happened to let slip to her that Damon's birthday had been coming up which had been the greatest news she had heard. She finally got to plan something for him.

Now because she knew Damon so well, she knew that he wouldn't want to celebrate it willingly without a little bit of a push from her. Now, usually since planning parties had been up Caroline's ally, she enlisted her best friend to help her with the preparations. Of course, the only thing Caroline could suggest all had to do with sex, which was absolutely no surprise.

But still, she took Caroline's advice.

So, she quietly snuck out of bed early on his birthday, careful not to wake up his sleeping form and hurried into the bathroom despite her state of nakedness from their passionate lovemaking the night before. It was like Elena had a giant lady boner after running over and over her plans for him the next day and just had to jump him beforehand.

And being the always ready boyfriend she knew he was he wasted no time in acting upon her urges and carrying her up to bed. Even as her family looked at them with their mouths hanging open as she wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her up to his bedroom.

Now, here she was ready and wanting all over again.

God, would she ever be able to stop wanting him? Was it going to be like this forever?

She took one look at herself in the mirror; with her tangling sex hair, swollen lips and the giant hickey on her neck; and decided that she certainly hoped that it would go on like this forever. She would be the happiest girl on the planet.

As you can probably already guess, the surprise for Damon's birthday was really just her. He got her for the entire day to do whatever he pleases to her body, whether it be having hot and wild abandon sex on the floor or wrestling on the floor like they were kids again.

Elena jumped in the shower quickly, needing to feel clean for some part of this day. Once she was finished in the shower, she tousled her hair into her loose wavy curls, just the way he liked it and put on the sexy lingerie that she had bought for this special occasion.

It was red and black lace, and brought a lot of attention to her breasts which had decided to be nice and perky today. She had chosen the colors specifically with Damon in mind. The black, because obviously it was his favorite color, and red because it was the color he was most fond of on her.

She tousled her hair once more before taking cautious steps out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. It had taken her months to perfect sneaking past him, but she had to admit that she was getting good at it. Or maybe he was just being nice and not telling her that he always heard her.

Elena ran across the room and pounced on top of his lying body on the bed. The bed bobbed up and down underneath her as she placed her hands and legs on either side of his body. Damon had yet to open his eyes so she leaned down and placed kisses all along his chest. She went all the way up his body until she got to his face where she saw the beginnings of a smirk there along his lips and knew that he was merely playing along with her game.

She placed a kiss on his mouth, which he immediately reciprocated, not wasting any time in wrapping his arms around her small body and pulling her closer to him. Elena smiled against his lips surprised at his eager attitude, and placed one final kiss on his lips before pulling back a couple inches so that she could get a better look at his face.

Damon's hands were fingering the lace material by her breasts that were covering her body from his gaze. He dropped it softly after a few moments before grazing his hands down to her ass where he contently laid them there.

"What is all this for?" Damon asked,

Elena smiled shyly. "Happy Birthday, baby," She paused and placed a soft kiss on his unresponsive ones. "I love you."

"How did you know?" Damon asked her, surprise etched into his features.

"Stefan spilled the beans," Elena shrugged, leaning down to his neck where she started to kiss, lick and suck every single piece of available skin to her.

Damon shook his head grumpily. "I'm going to kill him."

"Can you do that later?" Elena purred in his ear, before nibbling on the pad of his ear. "I have a very special birthday present for you."

She slithered down his body slowly, pecking at his chest on her way down.

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" Damon raised his eyebrows at her, as his hands fell away from her body as she moved.

"Sexual pleasure," Elena said simply, with a little shrug, tugging the sheet down from around his hips so that she could see her favourite part of his body.

"I love you," Damon moaned out, just as her tongue touched the tip of his penis.

* * *

"I'm hungry," Elena whined hours later, while he was still kissing along her stomach. It seemed that her stomach also wanted to provide proof as it grumbled. "We have to take a time out."

"But I haven't had enough of you yet," Damon said, swirling his tongue at different parts of her stomach, dipping his tongue inside her belly button making her giggle and try to squirm away.

"You, Mr. Salvatore, are insatiable," Elena said, coaxing him up her body with her finger, which he happily obliged.

When he reached her face, he nodded in agreement, bending down to place a tender kiss on her lips which she gave into immediately.

"I'm insatiable for you," Damon mumbled against her mouth,

"But... I can't help but love that quality about you," Elena whispered against his lips, feeling his answering smile in return against her lips. He started placing small barely there kisses on her lips even as her lips formed into a wide smile. His kisses moved to the side of her face, kissing along her cheek and then up along her forehead. As he made the trip back down along her nose she was giggling in response, wrapping her arms snuggly around his waist.

Once he made it back to his starting point, he placed on final kiss there before looking into her eyes.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Damon asked her, bringing his hand up to caress her face.

Elena shook her head, leaning her face into the hand that was now resting on her cheek.

"Well, you are," Damon whispered. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

"You're great in bed," Elena teased, not wanting to accept his compliment towards her. Damon gave her one of the most satisfied smirks ever accompanied with him wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, baby, I know," Damon whispered suggestively, leaning down to her neck where he sucked her skin there, and she knew that she'd just be covered in hickeys by the end of this. "But I never get tired of hearing you say it," Damon's lips were now at her ear.

"Shut up and just kiss me," Elena moaned, getting frustrated with all his teasing.

Her wish was his command and he moved is mouth back up to hers and enveloped hers in a passionate kiss that had her toes curling in excitement. She responded back with just as much eagerness, not hesitating to push her tongue into his mouth. He wasted no time in running his hands up and down the sides of her body until they rested on her hips, he manoeuvred them until they were at the perfect angle for his penetration.

And, that was the moment that Elena's stomach let out a loud grumble.

"You're hungry," Damon whispered against her lips.

"No, I'm not, just ignore it," Elena said, coaxing his lips back to hers.

"Not going to happen," Damon mumbled, kissing her once more before removing himself from her body and rolling off the bed. "I've got to feed my woman."

"Can't you just take advantage of me like any other guy would," Elena huffed, kicking the sheet fully off her body to reveal to him all of her.

"I know what you're doing," Damon said, even as his eyes were transfixed on her legs.

"I'm not doing anything..." Elena said, spreading her legs for him.

"Elena," Damon warned her, as her eyes dropped down to his erection. She licked her lips before drawing her eyes back up his body to his face. She could see the lust in his eyes and he was desperately fighting his instinct to just take her again on the bed or do the right thing and prevent her from starvation.

In the end Elena made the decision for him, as her hand slipped down between her legs. Her hands were rubbing up and down her legs before they settled on her clit.

Damon wasted no time and pounced on top of her, slapping her hand out of the way before sinking himself inside of her wet heat.

"I knew you'd see things my way," Elena moaned out, lifting her hips up to meet his.

"Only because you know what drives me crazy," Damon groaned, angling her hips different so that he hit her g-spot. "But luckily, I know what drives you crazy."

Elena could not formulate an answer and could only nod her head before screaming out in pleasure. He was driving her crazy as he kept changing the angle of his hips and taking her in so many different ways.

She was constantly on the edge and was just waiting for her orgasm now. With all the changes in angles she was hovering over the edge, not quite being able to reach it. Finally, she could tell that his orgasm was fast approaching and she knew that she'd be granted hers.

"Come with me, baby," Damon urged, gripping her hips tightly.

"God," Elena moaned, and she fell over the edge, taking Damon with her.

Damon collapsed on top of her, panting. He buried his face in her neck, and she ran her fingers through the sweaty strands on his head. Her stomach started grumbling again, and he lifted himself off of her before rolling off the bed.

"That was so worth delaying breakfast," Elena let out a satisfied sigh, stretching out her limbs on the bed.

"You were being naughty," Damon said, crossing his arms over his chest, giving her an approving look. "Maybe I should spank you."

Elena turned over, displaying her ass to him. "I wouldn't say no."

"As tempting as that offer is, I'm going to have to pass," Damon said, coming over to where she was pouting on the bed, and slapped her ass lightly. "Now get up."

Elena huffed once more before following him reluctantly out of bed, stepping onto the floor only to find that her legs felt like jello and were sore with every step that she took. When she looked up at Damon all she could find was the giant smirk that he wore across his smug face.

"You enjoy this, don't you?" Elena asked, folding her arms over her breasts.

"I always enjoy naked Elena," Damon replied, giving her body an automatic once over. Her body was red in the spots where he had kissed and sucked so many times she thought she was going to explode.

"That's not what I meant," Elena snapped,

Damon laughed, shrugging his shoulders, while Elena pouted and found her robe that had recently taken up a home next to his. She tied it roughly around her waist, making sure that he wouldn't be getting a glimpse of her naked body any time soon.

She stomped past him to get through the door and downstairs. She could hear his laughter as he followed down after her in all his naked glory, not bothering to cover himself up.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Damon asked her, as he opened the fridge surveying the ingredients. This fridge hadn't been so stocked full in years and he welcomed the amount of food that he found in it. One of the upsides of having Elena around was that he could cook for her whenever he wanted too.

"It's your birthday, I'll do it," Elena said, gently pushing him away from the fridge.

Damon wasn't having any of that nonsense and wrapped one of his arms gently around her waist, pulling her close to his body. He used the other hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, before his hand rested on her cheek.

Elena automatically leaned into his touch, turning her head so that she could place a kiss on the palm on his hand.

"I'm making you breakfast," Damon said, and as Elena opened her mouth to protest, he moved his hand from her face to place his finger on her lips. "I enjoy cooking, it can be my second birthday present."

He knew his words had the desired effect as Elena nodded. She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly as her face buried against his chest. He didn't need an explanation of what she was doing he just wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her.

They didn't speak for what seemed like ages, but that was seemingly okay for the moment. They were finally interrupted by Elena's stomach which started grumbling again.

"Someone's hungry," Damon stated, kissing the top of Elena's forehead before trying to pull himself from her arms.

"Wait," Elena whined, grabbing him around the waist more tightly. He looked at her expectantly, but all she did was lean up on her tip toes and press a big kiss to his lips. He responded immediately, his hands tunneling themselves in her chocolate brown locks, his lips and tongue moving roughly against her mouth.

They were all hands, mouths and tongues, and they would have happily had sex on the kitchen floor if not for the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them.

Damon looked up to find his brother standing there before him. He was silently thanking god that Elena was positioned in front of his body so that he wouldn't have to deal with Stefan seeing the major erection that he was sporting right now.

"Stefan," Damon greeted, while Elena put her head in her hands and buried herself against Damon's chest in shame. "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to wish my big brother a happy birthday, but you're obviously tangled up in other things..." Stefan indicted by gesturing to both Damon and Elena. "Hi, Elena."

"Hello, Stefan," Elena squeaked, but the sound was partly muffled by her hands and Damon's chest.

"Maybe we can catch up later," Stefan said awkwardly, before backing up carefully.

"Yeah, sure, Stefan," Damon said, trying not to chuckle at both Stefan's awkwardness and Elena's embarrassment. "I'll call you later." He waited a few minutes before reaching his hands up to Elena's and pulled them from her face. "He's gone,"

"Oh," Elena said, moving her head up from his chest and slid her hands up his smooth chest to where they wrapped around his neck. "Well, I suppose you should get started on that breakfast, Mister."

"Why of course, Miss Gilbert," Damon said in all politeness, untangling himself from her arms and making his way to the fridge. "I always endeavour to serve you in a way that pleases you."

"Oh, but you already do please me in every way possible," Elena purred at him, as she skipped over to take a seat at the island where she had a perfect view of watching him cook.

Damon bit his bottom lip at her words. "Well I hope I lived up to your expectations."

"Always," Elena whispered, knowing that he could hear her. He turned around flashing her his drop dead gorgeous grin, which he paired with a sexy wink that had her weak in the knees and ready to have his body again.

Damon worked effortlessly around the kitchen as always, having an omelet prepared for her in no less than ten minutes. He placed it in front of her along with a big glass of orange juice and a pile of bacon. Elena's mouth watered from just the sight of it. She dug into the food immediately, wasting no time in clearing off her plate.

She gave him a big smile when she was done, pushing the plate away from her before grabbing Damon around the neck and bringing him in for a delicious kiss which he reciprocated wholeheartedly. She gave him a couple more heated kisses before pulling away from him and hopping down off the chair.

"Thank you, baby, it was delicious," Elena said, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the house. "Now I feel it would be appropriate to properly thank you now that I have my energy back."

Damon gathered her up before they had even reached the stairs and started placing hungry kisses against her mouth. She went willingly, wrapping her legs around his waist and tangling her fingers into his dark raven hair. She was full of wanting need before they could even make it to the bedroom.

He carried her slowly to their bedroom, stopping along the way to press her against a few walls. They only stopped kissing to let Elena breathe, but Damon's lips were never far as he placed kisses along the corner of her mouth and along her jaw line. Once he had decided that she had enough of a breather he was back on her lips again, attacking them with wildly.

Elena didn't even blink when her back hit the mattress of the bed, but revelled in the fact that Damon was covering her body with his own. Her hands pressed sharply into his back, causing a satisfied moan to come from Damon's mouth which was currently placed at her neck.

Damon untied the sash on her robe and wasted no time in letting his hands wander up her body, feeling every inch of her skin, like he was memorizing it.

"Damon..." Elena whimpered, clawing her nails up his back until she got to his shoulders. She heard the soft gasp come from Damon as he lifted his head up to look at her face.

"I don't want any more foreplay, just fuck me," Elena demanded, watching the surprise find itself on Damon's beautiful face.

It didn't remain for long though as a smirk graced across his features now. Damon flipped them over so that Elena was now straddling him. He placed his hands on her legs, rubbing up and down them gently as his gaze was locked on her heaving chest.

"You want to fuck," Damon snapped, bringing his gaze back to her face. "Then you take me."

Elena thrust herself down on his erection immediately, and they both let out a loud moan at the intrusion. She wasted no time and started to move herself up and down, her hands tangling in her hair as the raw passion took over her body.

Damon stared at her mesmerized and couldn't help but think about how lucky he was that he had managed to get her. She was perfect and she was made for him. He took in her appearance, her messed up hair, her closed eyes, that satisfied smile on her face when she moved down, her breasts heaving up and down every time she moved, her long legs that he would be content with always having a place between them.

She was amazing. And she was his.

"I love you," Damon groaned out, as he sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her neck so that he could place frantic kisses there.

"Bite me," Elena moaned out, leaning her head to one side to expose the column of her throat.

"Elena," Damon ground out, trying very hard to keep the monster inside of him at bay. "I can't do that."

"Please, baby," Elena pleaded with him, moving a step further as she brought his head down to her neck, coaxing him to bite her neck.

He was fighting a losing battle. He couldn't deny her of anything she wanted, she sure as hell knew that. So he let her fangs lengthened, and the veins appear underneath his eyes. He looked up at her cautiously, looking for any signs of worry but all he could see was love in those beautiful chocolate brown eyes of hers.

Elena reached out and placed her fingertips underneath his eyes, caressing his face to let him know that she was completely involved in this. Her thrusts slowed down as she focused on easing his worries about biting her.

The hesitation didn't last for long as he dropped his face down to her neck, working her up by placing barely there kisses on her neck. This fueled her arousal and Elena picked up the pace of her thrusts. Damon worked her up slowly, going from kisses to sucking on the skin, until she was in a state of pure bliss. She didn't even recognize the feel of his fangs sinking into her skin until he started to pull the blood from her body.

Damon thought that he had reached actual heaven by having Elena's blood inside him, flowing through his body, his veins.

"Damon, Damon, Damon," Elena chanted out, her thrusts were picking up now as she was hurtling towards release. Her hand found its way to her clit where she rubbed frantically, wanting nothing more than a release.

Damon pulled back from her neck, as she went into her release, wanting to see it. He stared up at her as he watched her face transform as she became overcome with her orgasm. Her mouth slacked into a O shape, her eyes squeezed shut tightly and her cheeks were now slightly pink.

Just watching her sent himself into his own orgasm, and he bucked his hips up into her, grabbing onto her waist to thrust her down as he went up and met his own blissful release.

As a last thought he pushed his wrist up against Elena's mouth, coaxing her to drink his blood in order to heal the wound that he had made. He moaned once again as she sunk her blunt human teeth his wrist, sucking the blood out of him greedily.

He pulled back when she had taken enough, but she latched onto his wrist trying to keep him there.

"No, baby, you can't have too much," Damon scolded, pulling his wrist away more firmly.

"Can we do that more often?" Elena asked, her eyes brightening when he nodded his head. "Want to know something?"

"Sure," Damon said amused at her behaviour,

"Your vampire face is very sexy," Elena whispered, giggling after doing so. Ah, she was on a blood high, and she's come down from it in about 2 seconds.

"I know it is baby," Damon said cheekily. Elena collapsed on top of him suddenly sending him backwards on the bed. "And, there it is."

Elena wrapped her arms around whichever parts of his body that she could find and buried her head in the crook of his neck. Damon pushed the robe off of her shoulders and threw it on the floor so that they could be skin against skin again. He brought them up the bed so that they could be under the sheets, and finally content with their position he wrapped his arms around Elena's already sleeping frame.

* * *

"You think that we're going to last?" Elena asked quietly, from her position on Damon's chest, her fingers gently caressing the skin of his chest.

"Forever?" Damon asked, just as quietly, his fingers tunneling in through her dark tresses.

Elena nodded, lifting her head up to look at him.

"I don't know," Damon answered honestly, pausing momentarily on her hair as she laid her head back down on his chest.

"Me neither," Elena tightened her arms around his waist as if she was afraid that she was going to lose him. "I don't know what I want."

Damon had long ago figured out that she wasn't talking about wanting him, and that she was talking about whether or not she was going to become a vampire for him. He knew the choice he wanted her to make but that didn't mean that she was going to pick that choice.

"I'll love you either way," Damon resumed his combing of her hair, mentally preparing himself so what he was about to say. "You know you mean... so much to me, and I don't ever want to lose you. But if you decide you want to live a human life and get married and have kids, then I'm not going to stand in your way."

Elena nodded, and he felt the tear that hit his chest at his words. He wrapped both arms around her in a comforting embrace, placing a kiss to her head.

After way too much time lying there, Elena's head buried in his chest and him staring up at the ceiling. Something needed to be said. Some sort of action needed to take place.

Damon was grateful when it was Elena who made the first move.

Elena lifted her head up, hastily wiping at the tears that had made their path down her cheeks. She crawled her way up his body until their faces were side by side. He automatically turned to face her out of habit, and she leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

He was confused for a moment before he accepted the kiss.

When Elena pulled back she had a wide grin on her face, and her hand reached over to caress Damon's face, clearly fascinated with what she saw there.

"I could never dream of losing you," Elena started, her fingers tracing along his lips. "The fact that you would take yourself out of the running if it meant that I was happy and had a human life, is so inspiring and thoughtful of you but it's not necessary. I can't imagine living my life without you, so I'm not."

Damon opened his mouth to respond but she pressed her fingers more firmly against his mouth,

"I want to stay with you, forever," Elena smiled, "I don't know when I'll be ready to become a vampire, it could be months, days, weeks or years from now, but I want you to know that I want it and I want you, forever."

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that,"

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Elena joked, leaning over to replace her fingers with her lips. "You're stuck with me forever."

"No place I'd rather be," Damon mumbled against her lips, before kissing her so hard she thought she might break from the force.

How could she complain though? She got everything she wanted, everything she needed. Damon will always be the perfect match for her, and she for him.

* * *

_The end :)_


End file.
